


Ravadhi (Half-Orc)

by TheTravelerWrites



Series: Monster Lovers: Willowridge [4]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alcoholism, Angst, Attempted Sexual Assault, Child Abandonment, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Domestic Violence, Drug Abuse, Drug Addiction, Exophilia, F/M, Half-orc, Human/Half-Orc - Freeform, Human/Monster Romance, Human/Orc - Freeform, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Interspecies Romance, Orc, Racism, Slow Burn, Teratophilia, domestic abuse, human/monster, implied molestation, orc boyfriend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-06-12 15:13:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 35,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15342570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTravelerWrites/pseuds/TheTravelerWrites
Summary: This is a story that has been knocking around in my head for quite a long time, and it's going to be a very dark story. It will include domestic violence, gun violence, murder, alcoholism, drug addiction, child neglect, child abuse, as well as references to sexual abuse. (However, there will not be any scenes in which sexual abuse occurs apart from one scene in which a groping happens briefly; there will only be mentions of the abuse after the fact or during a character's spoken word narrative. I do not write non-con under any circumstances.)I want to let my readers know what's coming so that you're not blindsided by a fic that has extremely heavy subject matter and could potentially contain serious triggers for many of my readers, so if any of this is hard for you to read, feel free to steer clear. I want to be 100% transparent with you guys.





	1. Chapter 1

“Hey, there,” A deep voice said to Holly’s right, making her jump out of her seat a little. Holly turned, startled, and saw an orc, far larger than her but not nearly as big as others she’d seen, carrying a stack of books separated into two distinct piles.

“I’d like to return these, check these three out, and purchase this one, if I could,” He said in a pleasant tone. Unlike most orcs she knew, his hair wasn’t long and braided, but cut shortish around his shoulders and had a medium curl to it. It was also dyed royal blue and had at least half an inch of brown roots showing where it parted in the middle.

Holly wondered if maybe he was mixed. His skin color looked like a fight between brown and green, but the green was winning. He had largish double tusks with no adornments and his eyes were black and intense, though he wore glasses over them. He smiled, but his face was a bit sallow and tired looking, making him seem like he was far older than he probably was.

“Of course,” She said, taking a moment to slow her heart. God, he moved quiet for a big guy. Taking the books from him and setting them out to be scanned, she asked, “Can I see your student ID, please?”

“Yep,” He said, pulling it from his wallet.  

“Oh…” Holly said, checking the card and double checking with the computer. “I’m sorry, sir. This card is expired.”

“Oh,” He said, frowning.

“You can renew it for a ten dollar fee. Would you like to do that now?”

“Yeah, please,” He replied.

“I’ll need your driver’s license or state ID, please,” Holly said. He grabbed it out of his wallet as well and handed it to her.

“Ravadhi Silversmith…” She said slowly and quietly as she punched in his name. “Is all your information still correct? Address? Phone number?”

“Yeah, that’s all the same.”

“Okay. I’ll go ahead and ring you up for the book and add the fee to your bill. Which book were you purchasing?”

He picked up a large book on business ethics and handed it to her.

She hissed in a breath through her teeth as she took it. “I’m guessing you have Professor Torneau?”

He laughed. “Yeah, how’d you know?”

“Because he always puts this in his booklist and he never uses it. _Ever._ He’s the biggest troll on campus, and I don’t mean that just because he’s an actual troll. Do yourself a favor: save yourself two hundred and thirty eight dollars and go find a book called _The Dogma of Corporate Morality; a Philosopher’s Paradox_ by Robert Task. That’s the book where he gets most of his teaching material and it costs twenty bucks.”

His eyes narrowed at her. “ _You_ could be trolling me.”

“Sure, because my boss would be super happy if I cheated the college out of two hundred and fifty dollars just for the lols,” She replied wryly.

“That is a good point,” He said, smiling. “Where can I find it?”

“I’ll grab it for you,” She said. “Gimme two seconds.”

As she set the printer to making his new ID, she went to get the book, taking it off the rack and returning to the help desk where he was still waiting, leaning with his forearms on the counter. She noticed the blue work pants he wore were dirty, and she smelled engine oil as she passed him. He must come to the night school classes in the evenings straight from work. She thought he must be exhausted if that were the case.

“Okay, Mr. Silversmith, is there anything else you need today?” She asked him.

“Nope, that should be it,” He said.

“Okay, you’re good to go, then,” She replied, handing him his books and his newly laminated student ID. “Your total is $32.45.”

He fished out a grimy fifty and handed it to her.

“You're all set. Have a good day, sir,” Holly said, smiling as she handed him back his change.

“Thanks,” He replied. “You too.”

He walked away from the help desk and Holly returned to her work. She was so absorbed in what she was doing that she didn’t notice him stop and turn back several times, opening his mouth as if to talk to her, but seeming to think the better of it and keep walking. She also didn’t see him stop at the door and look back at her for a few moments before leaving.

Later that night, Holly closed and locked up the doors and started sorting the stray books to put back in their rightful places, taking as much time as she possibly could. Her co-worker, Ms. Janice, knew Holly was dragging her feet but didn’t chide her. Ms. Janice never asked, but Holly was sure she had an inkling as to why Holly never seemed to want to go home.

Eventually, it couldn’t be helped. If she didn’t go soon, she’d miss the last bus and would have to walk thirteen miles home in the dark.

The bus stop was half a mile from her house, and she was dismayed see her dad’s truck in the driveway, huge and gaudy. She sighed. It was too much to hope that he’d be gone for another week. Holly’s dad was a long haul truck driver who would be gone for days at a time, coming home to drink and be a general asshole to everyone in the immediate vicinity for a day or two before leaving again. He was only home for a collective two weeks out of the month, and those were the most miserable days of Holly’s life.

When she got in, she saw her dad in the living room, sitting alone in his regular chair with half empty bottle of vodka swinging casually in his hand, watching TV. He didn’t look up when she came in, so she tried to escape to her room unnoticed.

“Where do you think you’re going, girl?” She heard him rasp lazily from his chair.

She squeezed her eyes shut tight and took a deep breath. “I was just going to put my stuff down,” She said.

“You can’t take a second to say hello to your daddy?” He asked, a hint of irritation in his voice. “I’ve been gone a week. You ain’t got nothing to say to me?”

She had plenty to say, just none of it she could say out loud. She turned and said, “I'm glad you're home, Dad.”

He looked at her, his eyes glazed over. “Do it properly,” He said.

She swallowed, letting her bag fall to the ground in the hallway and coming closer to him slowly, kneeling next to his chair and kissing his cheek. As she tried to pull away, he grabbed the back of her head by her hair painfully. She whimpered. The air around him was saturated with the stench of stale alcohol.

“Why were you out so late?” He asked, his face inches from hers.

“They changed my shifts,” She said, gasping from pain. “I work the nights now, I don’t have a choice. The new girl can only work days, so I have to work nights.”

He looked at her down his nose for a moment before jerking her head painfully and releasing her hair. “Get me something to eat and get away from me.”

“Yes, sir,” She said, getting to her feet and going into the kitchen to cook him a meal. Her ten-year-old sister, Sarah, came out of her room and hugged Holly around the middle.

“You okay?” Sarah whispered at her big sister.

“Yeah,” Holly said, smiling. “Want to help?”

Sarah nodded, and even though their father was only twenty feet away and watching them with narrowed eyes, they tried to enjoy their time together.

Holly tried to be home with Sarah whenever their dad was around, but with the new night job, Sarah was going to be by herself with him or with Holly’s wasted, strung-out step-mom. Since Sarah spent summers with her grandparents in Vermont, this was the first time Holly wouldn’t be able to act as a shield between her dad and sister, and Holly was worried. She could only hope her dad would honor the agreement and trust that Sarah would tell her if he didn’t.

“Where’s your mom?” Holly asked Sarah.

“Passed out,” Sarah said. “When Dad got home, they drank until mom threw up and I put her to bed.”

Holly’s voice dropped to a barely audible whisper. “Are you… safe? Has anything happened?”

Sarah shook her head. “No. He hasn’t even talked to me since he got home.”

“You swear?” Holly pressed.

Her sister nodded. “Swear.”

The two of them locked gazes for a moment, and Holly nodded. “Okay.”

After dinner, Holly helped Sarah with her homework and put her to bed, turning on the baby monitor that Holly had hidden under her bed and telling her to lock her door. She knew Sarah knew what was going on and was telling Holly the truth when she told her she was still safe, but Holly had to do what she could to protect her, even if all she could do was a baby monitor and a deadbolt.

Holly went to her room for the evening, trying to read, but she was jittery, knowing it was coming eventually. It always did the day he came back. Sure enough, ten minutes after she turned off the light, her door opened and the blood froze in her veins. 

* * *

 

Next week, while working her shift, Ravadhi came back in to return the books he’d checked out and check out a few more.

“Hey!” He said brightly when he saw her. His hair was pulled back into a bushy ponytail and he was much cleaner looking today, dressed in a black band tee and some jeans. “You were completely right about that teacher; he’s a total troll. He told us all to turn to page forty-eight and started talking about functional team building exercises in a labor setting. Everyone else in class was so confused, I was the only one who had any idea what he was talking about. Thanks so much for your help.”

“Thanks for actually listening,” Holly said as she scanned his new books. “No one ever has before.”

He scoffed. “Why?”

“Because I’m not a student.”

“You’re not?” He asked, confused. “I thought you couldn’t work in the library unless you were a student or faculty.”

“They sort of bent the rules for me. I took a creative writing class two years ago, and I started working here then to pay off the class fee. They just sort of… let me stay after my class was over. I have a very good work ethic, they said.”

Holly was more certain it was because everyone in town knew about her dad and no one was brave enough to speak up or do anything about it. This was the only kind thing they could think to do for her that could assuage their guilty conscience.

“Nice,” He replied. “Well, thanks again.”

“Sure,” Holly said as he waved and walked away.

Later in the day, Ms. Janice came up from the reception desk.

“Hey, Professor Smithson wants you to bring him four copies of his book. Apparently he’s got some sort of fan club thing and they all want signed copies.”

Holly scoffed. “I hope he plans to reimburse the school for these.”

She raised her eyebrows dryly and moved off.

Sighing, Holly went to pull the books off of the shelf and headed out of the library-bookstore toward the Arts building.

Despite being a state college, the campus was relatively small, directly correlating to the size of the town it was in. Willowridge took pride in being a small town; any efforts to expand was quickly squashed by the town’s city council, made up of old white guys who ran most of the businesses. It was a nice place to live, if it was the 1930’s and one wasn’t a woman or a minority of any sort.

Holly dropped off the books and headed back to the library, but it was starting to look like rain so instead of crossing the courtyard, she took the much longer way through the Sciences building.

Halfway through the building, she heard catcalls from behind her. She recognized the voices and sped up.

“Where you going, girl?” One asked, running to catch up with her.

“Lawrence, I have to get back to work,” Holly said exasperatedly.

Lawrence grabbed her arm and stopped her mid-stride. He was in her creative writing class two years ago and had been harassing her ever since. His buddy, Tucker, was his lookout and just as much as a pervert.

“Hey, don’t be rude,” Lawrence said, slowly pushing her by her upper arms toward the wall. “I just want to talk to you.”

“You never just want to talk, Lawrence, let me go,” Holly said, trying and failing to wrench her arms out of his grip. He was squeezing hard enough to leave bruises.

“Why won’t you go out with me, huh?” Lawrence said, looking down his nose and licking his lips. “I could be real good to you. I could make you feel real good, too.”

As he said this, his hand reached up under her shirt to touch her breast over her bra, and her entire body locked up in terror. She shut her eyes tight and stopped breathing.

“ _HEY!_ ”

Holly opened her eyes to find Ravadhi sprinting down the hallway toward her and her two assailants, his bag swinging wildly on his shoulder. Lawrence snatched his hand out of Holly’s shirt.

“Dude, why didn’t you say someone was coming?” Lawrence hissed at Tucker.

“I didn’t hear him!” Tucker hissed back in his defense. “Guy moves like a ninja.”

“Back the fuck up!” Ravadhi said, grabbing Lawrence’s arm and forcefully shoving him away from Holly.

“You back up! We’re dating, dickhead,” Lawrence said venomously. “This is none of your business.”

“We are _not_ dating, you asshole!” Holly yelled behind the wall of Ravadhi’s back. The panicked tears were coming to her eyes and the hyperventilation wasn’t far behind. “Stalking does not qualify as dating!”

“Get the fuck out of here now,” Ravadhi said in a dangerously low voice, pointing toward the exit.

Lawrence snorted, still belligerent, but even he could see he was no match for Ravadhi’s size.

“Whatever, you ugly cow-fucker. Let’s go, Tucker.” He turned and pointed a finger at Holly, who cringed. “I’m not done with you.”

“You are extremely fucking done,” Ravadhi snarled, holding his arm out to shield her from view.

Lawrence and Tucker hurled expletives at Ravadhi, who watched them with his arms crossed to make sure they left, and then turned just in time to see Holly slide down the wall, sobbing hysterically.

“Hey, hey, hey,” He said in a soothing voice, kneeling next to her. He tried to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, but she held up her forearms in front of her head in a defensive position as a reflex, and he halted. “Are you okay? What’s happening, talk to me.”

“Panic attack,” She managed to gasp. Her chest was heaving in an effort to breathe and tears streamed down her cheeks.

“What can I do to help? Do you take medicine?” He asked in concern.

She shook her head. “Just… just let me… let me breathe…” She choked out, and he nodded, settling on his knee a few feet away, close enough to help but not close enough to be looming.

It took several minutes of gasping and rocking and repeating quiet words to herself in an undertone, but eventually she was able to calm herself down. When she opened her eyes again, Ravadhi offered her a chrome sports bottle with water in it.

“I’m sorry it’s not cold,” He said.

Holly shook her head and took the bottle. “Thank you.” She took several deep gulps and tried to get her breathing into a much more even rhythm.

“Better?” He asked in concern.

She nodded, sniffling.

“Let’s get you off the floor, okay?” He said, standing and offering her his hand. “There’s a bench just outside. I think you could use some fresh air.”

“Okay,” She replied shakily and let him help her to her feet, releasing his had as soon as she could stand on her own. He took her out of the building to a bench and sat her down. It was raining, but pleasantly so. The sound of the droplets hitting the metal of the roof was rather consoling.

“Doing alright?” He asked.

“Yeah, thanks,” Holly said, sipping from his water bottle.

“Do you want me to call the police?” He asked.

“What?” She asked vaguely. “No, no, that’s not necessary.”

“What are you talking about? That asshole just groped you,” He said, his brow furrowing. “You should report that.”

“And what?” Holly said, shrugging. “What’s going to happen? Nothing.”

“Why wouldn’t anything happen? He assaulted you. I'm fairly certain that's illegal.”

“You’re new here, aren’t you?” She asked. He nodded. “Well, that asshole’s dad owns half the town. Most of the police department is in his pocket. If I reported him, they wouldn’t even file paperwork on it.”

“Shit,” He said, rubbing his neck. “So… what, you just put up with it?”

“What else can I do?”

“You could cut his dick off. _I_ could cut his dick off.”

“As appealing as that sounds, no,” Holly said. “You’d be surprised what you can learn to deal with when you don’t have a choice.”

His frown deepened. “I wish I didn’t understand that, but I do. It’s shitty, but I get it.”

“Yeah.” You glanced at him. “Aren’t you late for a class?”

“I can make it up later,” He said, waving dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. How’re you doing?”

Holly held out her hands, which were mostly steady, and stood up. “Good. I should get back to work.”

“Okay,” He replied, getting to his feet. “Let me walk you back to the library.”

“I’d appreciate that, thank you,” Holly said with a shaky smile.

They arrived back at the library and he made sure Holly got in without trouble before heading off to his class.

The next day, she was riding the bus to the university and she was surprised to see Ravadhi get on. He seemed relieved to see her sitting there.

“Can I sit with you?” He asked with a smile.

Returning the smile, she said, “Sure.”

“Thanks,” he said, sitting next to her on the seat. Despite being very large, he managed to sit in such a way that he was carefully not touching her. She was grateful for that.

“I’ve never seen you on the bus before.” She told him.

“My truck’s tire rods and rod ends need to be replaced. Also, the suspension is shot.”

“That sounds expensive,” Holly said.

“You are correct,” He replied. “I’m a mechanic, I can replace it all myself, but I have to wait for the parts to get in.”

“How long will that be?”

“Two days,” He replied. “The car was a hand-me-down from a friend. I got it before I moved here and since I needed a vehicle right away, I didn’t ask many questions. Probably should have,” He said ruefully.

“How long have you been in town?”

“Uh, not long,” He replied. “I just moved back about two months ago.”

“Moved back?”

“Yeah, my family lived here when I was little,” Ravadhi said. “I’ve been gone about fourteen, fifteen years.”

“Did you move back with your family?” Holly asked him.

“Uh… no,” He said, picking his nails. “My family died in a car accident when I was twelve.”

“Oh, Jesus,” Holly said. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean--”

He shook his head. “It’s okay. No worries.”

“Why’d you decide to move back?” She asked gently.

“A buddy of mine got me a job here,” He said. “In an auto shop. It’s enough money to live on, though it’s lucky my parents put aside a college fund for me, though, or I’d never be able to go to school like I wanted to.”

“What are you studying?”

“Business management. I don’t want to be a CEO or anything, but I do like the idea of leading a team,” He said.

Holly smiled. “I couldn’t do anything like that. I’m not a people person, I guess.”

“You’ve been awfully nice to me,” He said with a grin.

“You’re _one_ person. I can handle _one_ person,” She said.

He chuckled as the bus pulled into the college bus stop. He stepped out and waited for her, walking her to the library before heading off to his class. He smiled widely, his tusks glinting in the sunlight. They weren’t decorated but they were very shiny.

For the next three days, he rode the bus with Holly, engaging her in pleasant conversation. She noticed once or twice that some people on the bus throwing odd looks his way, but she figured they were just racists and wrote them off. When he got his truck fixed and stopped riding the bus, she actually found she missed his company.

Holly sighed. She hated the bus. She should just get a scooter or something.

Ravadhi became a regular fixture in the library, coming in at least twice a week. He didn’t just check out school books, but other books he wanted to read. Holly wondered, between work and school, when he had the time to read them all.

One Thursday, he came in to drop off his old books and sit with her during her lunch break when he asked her if she wanted to go to dinner with him.

“Oh,” She said, her heart sinking. “I… I don’t…”

He smiled gently. “It’s okay if the answer is no, you know. I’m not an asshole, you don’t owe me anything, even an explanation.”

“No, it’s just that…” Holly sighed to a stop. She had to be careful not to say too much. “Things are… extremely complicated for me right now, and I don’t want to drag anyone else into it. I have to look after my sister. She’s my first priority. I can’t put anyone before her, not even myself.”

“I completely understand,” He said with a sweet smile. “It’s okay. It’s okay to say no.”

Holly breathed a sigh of relief. “Really?”

“Of course,” Ravadhi assured her. “I’m not one of those douche canoes who think you owe me a date because we’re nice to each other. I just thought I’d ask. It’s totally cool with me if you’re not into it. I’m happy to stay friends, if that’s what you want.”

Holly’s head rocked back. “Are we friends?”

His head mirrored hers. “I hope so. Did you think we weren’t?”

“I-I…” She stuttered. “I don’t know. I don’t really have… friends. Never really did.”

He huffed a laugh. “You know, I haven’t really had many friends these past few years, either. Though I was hoping you and I were getting there.”

Holly smiled. “Well, I don’t have a problem with that, but I’m not all that familiar with how to be a friend. You might have to teach me a little bit.”

“I can do that,” He said, smiling sweetly at her.

After a few minutes of banter, he got up to get to his next class, waving at Holly and smiling his blinding grin at her as he left. She watched him go with a replying grin on her face, her heart fluttering.

Her smile faded quickly, replaced by a pit in her stomach. She couldn’t afford this. She couldn’t afford to be interested in someone. If her dad found out she liked someone, she didn’t even know what he’d do. She wasn’t willing to gamble her sister’s safety on some guy, no matter how nice he was.

That evening, the library closed up late because some dickhead kid decided his paper was more important than the bus schedule, and Holly missed her bus. Ms. Janice offered to drive her home, but she was going in the opposite direction, so Holly sent her off. Also, she didn’t want anyone to know where she lived.

Holly was sitting on the bus stop bench, looking up at the heavy clouds that threatened to let loose for the second time that day when she spotted a beat up blue truck pull into the parking lot. Ravadhi got out and waved at her.

“Hey there!” He called.

“Hey,” She called back, far less enthusiastically. “What are you doing here?”

He jogged up to where she sat said, “Oh, I do overnight plumbing emergencies for my boss. He’s got a plumbing side-company that he lets me freelance for. The men’s bathroom in the lecture hall is having some back-up issues, apparently. I’m here to sort it out.” He looked around in confusion. “Didn’t the last bus leave thirty minutes ago?”

Holly sighed. “Yep. I missed it. I’m just mustering up the energy to walk home.”

He shrugged. “I could drive you when I’m done.”

“No, no, thanks, that’s okay,” Holly said, standing up. “It’s not far, I’ll be fine.”

She was lying. It was going to take well over four hours to get home, and an angry father would be waiting. But whatever she was in for by coming home late, it would be worse if she showed up at home in the truck of some random guy. Her father would be beyond angry; he might actually kill her, and that wasn’t hyperbole.

“Are you sure?” Ravadhi asked, looking up at the sky. “It’s going to pour any minute now.”

“I’m sure,” She said. “I’ll be fine.”

He frowned, chewing his lip. “Hold on a sec, okay?”

She nodded and he jogged back to his truck, taking something out of the tool chest in the bed. He returned and handed her an umbrella and a disposable plastic poncho.

“Here,” He said. “If you’re going to walk home in the rain, at least take this.”

She took them slowly. People… people weren’t this nice to her without ulterior motive. She looked up at him with suspicion, but said, “Thank you. I’ll give these back.”

“Don’t worry about that,” He laughed. “You can keep the umbrella. I have, like, seven. I don’t even know where they come from.”

Holly smiled weakly and pulled the poncho on. “I better head home,” She told him.

“Sure,” He said with a smile. “Be safe, okay?”

“You too,” She said, and headed off. She could feel him watching her, but she ignored him.

It started to rain as soon as she stepped out onto the main road. She opened the umbrella gratefully, and it was huge; she’d be surprised if anything except her socks got wet.

Four hours of trudging later, her house came into view, as did her father’s truck. The lights were still on, and she knew it was going to be bad, but she couldn’t not go in. There was an agreement to uphold. If she didn’t show up at home every night, he’d think she’d ran away. That was a breach.

“Where the hell have you been?!” He roared at her as soon as she came into the house, throwing a fist into her cheek immediately. She fell against the wall and down to the floor, where he reached down and grabbed her by the throat, squeezing.

“I missed the bus!” She choked. “I’m sorry, dad, I didn’t mean to, there was a student who wouldn’t leave!”

“Don’t lie to me!” He yelled in her face, punching her in the ribs. She grunted in pain, but didn’t scream. He wanted her to scream. He wanted her to scare Sarah, since that was the only harm he could do to her. Holly refused. She would do whatever it took to protect Sarah.

Sarah’s door began to open, but Holly pried her dad's fingers from her throat enough to shouted, “Sarah, close your door! Lock it! Don’t listen!”

The door snapped shut instantly and Holly heard the lock click into place.

The beating she took that night was bad, but not as bad as it could have been. He must have been on a downer. If it had been an upper, he’d have beaten her until sunrise. Finally, he released the grip he had on her hair, fell face first into the couch, and began to snore.

She just lay there, bleeding and aching and gasping for breath, before taking herself to the bathroom to inspect the damage. Her lip was split and her nose was bleeding, but at least it wasn’t broken. She lifted her shirt carefully and there were bruises pooling all down her left side and across her stomach where he had kicked her. There were also clear handprint shaped marks on her neck.

She ran a bath and sank into it slowly, groaning at the pain and stinging, tears leaking down her cheeks. She sobbed as quietly as she could, not wanting to wake her father or her sister. Diane wouldn’t care.

She lay there in the water well past the point when it had gotten cold, unable to do more than cry. One day. One day, Sarah would get a scholarship and leave this place, and so would Holly. Or her dad would wind up killing her before then.

Either way, she'd be free.


	2. Chapter 2

The following afternoon before heading to work, she managed to cover most of the bruises on her face well enough with makeup, though it took almost an hour and the split to her lip was still noticeable. She also wore a heavy turtleneck, despite the weather.

Such a fucking cliche. It was almost funny. She’d laugh, except that laughing hurt. Everything hurt.

Ms. Janice’s lips thinned when she saw Holly walk in, but she said nothing, and Holly offered no explanation. There was an unspoken agreement in this town that a person’s business was their own and it wasn’t anyone’s place to interject. Before Sarah was born, it was a policy that Holly hated, but now it was vital to Sarah’s safety, so as long as Holly said nothing, no one asked.

Five minutes after she arrived at work, Ravadhi walked into the library, and Holly’s heart sank. She didn’t want him to see her like this, and she really didn’t want him start asking questions she couldn’t answer.

To her dismay, he noticed immediately.

“Hey, there,” He said, a concerned frown creasing his brow. “What happened? Are you okay?”

Holly had become adept at quick, convenient excuses that sounded plausible, so she said, “I tripped on a rock in the dark and absolutely ate the pavement. Not my finest moment.”

She’d become a good actress: her tone was playfully self-deprecating, her posture discomfited but at ease with itself. Convincing.

“Jeez,” He said, grimacing. “I _should_ have driven you home.”

“It’s my own fault for being clumsy,” She said with a laugh. “I should have been paying attention to where I was going.”

“Mmm,” He grumbled. “But you’re okay?”

“Yeah, totally,” She said, waving dismissively. “What can I help you with?”

He started, remembering he was carrying books. “Bringing these back,” He said. “Can you recommend another book like this?” He held up a book about a psychic detective agency. “I really like paranormal mysteries. Don’t tell anyone.”

Holly smiled. “Dude, you’re singing the song of my people. Come this way, I’ve got a bunch of really good stuff hidden over here.”

She led him to a small corner behind the philosophy books where her favorite author’s entire repertoire was hidden.

“Have you ever heard of Saoirse McLannahan?” She asked him, and he shook his head with a smile. “She blows everyone in the genre out of the water. You’ll need to start with…” She paused, tapping her finger on her chin, and then stopping because that hurt her face. “That one.”

She started to point to a shelf that was too high, even for him to reach, but stopped when the pain shot up her side. Instead, she got a rolling ladder to snatch it down from the shelf.

“This one is the first one she wrote in the Spectre series, and it’s _amazing_. You’re going to love it.”

He looked down at him with a grin, but when she saw the look on his face, her heart began to pound with reflexive fear.

His expression had hardened, his eyes narrowed, brow furrowed, and his mouth pressed into a hard line. His hands had balled up into tight fists, his nostrils flared, and his long, pointed ears flicking back and forth in agitation. The muscles of his arms and shoulders were taut and corded, as if he were restraining himself. His entire demeanor screamed of black, seething rage.

She’d seen this in her father many times and it always made her feel like she was falling from a great height, about to hit the pavement. Her lungs constricted and her breathing stuttered. It was the first time she felt afraid of him.

“What?” She asked, her heart beating hard in a sudden fright at the look of him.

“That didn’t happen from tripping over a rock,” He said, his voice uneven. He was pointing at her waist where her sweater had come up from reaching for the book, and a large section of the huge, black bruise was visible. “What happened to you?”

“It’s nothing, it’s not a big deal,” Holly said, not meeting his eye. She stepped down from the ladder and held out the book for him, but he didn’t take it. Instead, he carefully reached out and turned down the neck of her sweater without touching her skin, and saw the hand prints on her throat. She jerked away from him and pulled it back up.

“Who did this?” He asked. Both his hands and his voice were shaking. “Who’s doing this to you?”

“Don’t worry about it,” She insisted.

“How can you tell me not to worry about _that_?” He asked in exasperation, gesturing at her injuries. “You look like you were hit by a car! Someone is hurting you. Tell me who it is and we can--”

“Don’t,” She said quietly but with force. She finally made herself look up at his face, and his eyes were angry and confused. She imagined hers looked the same. “Don’t do this. Don’t ask me questions I can’t answer. Don’t get involved. You don’t have any idea what’s at stake and, quite frankly, it’s none of your business, so don’t.” She was breathing hard and her voice was quivering. A frustrated tear escaped her eye. “ _Please._ ”

They stood there looking at each other for several long minutes. He moved first, letting his bookbag slide off of his shoulder and pulling out a notebook.

“This,” He said as he scribbled on a blank sheet of paper. “Is my cell number, my home number, and the number at my two jobs. I’ll answer at least one of them. If you can’t reach me, keep trying.” He ripped the paper out and handed it to her. “Call me any time, I don’t care if it’s four in the morning or I’m elbow-deep in a carburetor, if you need hel… _anything…_ ” He put a hard emphasis on that word. “You _call me_. Okay?”

Holly wiped her face and nodded, taking the paper from his hand.

“Promise me,” He said seriously.

“I promise,” She said in a weak voice. “Do you want the book or not?”

Gingerly, he took the book from her grasp and walked away, snatching up his bag as he did so. Holly took another minute to compose herself before walking back out into the open area of the library. He had already checked out and was gone by then.

The weekend came, normally a time when Holly would take Sarah out and do something fun, but their father had sprained his ankle and was going to be staying home for a few extra days. He didn’t like for his daughters to be out of his sight and therefore out of his control, so they had to stay home.

The only reason he let Holly keep the library job was so that he could take seventy percent of her paycheck as “rent.” And also because she was the only one buying food and anything Sarah needed. Diane got disability for her bipolar disorder, and her dad pulled in four thousand a month, easy, but they blew most of that money on booze and drugs. It was shocking how expensive drug habits could be.

Holly had decided to pool her meager savings and buy a scooter. She was almost at her goal; the one she wanted was about nine hundred dollars and she was only a few hundred shy of that. Another two months and she could afford it. Convincing her dad to let her buy it would be another story.

She hated that she had to ask her dad permission to do anything. She was 23 and an adult, but she was under her father’s thumb at all times. If he said no to the scooter, there was no arguing. His word was law.

That Sunday afternoon, there had been a knock at the door. It surprised everyone: this house didn’t get visitors ever, not even from the church. Not anymore, at least.

Diane, who was in one of her more lucid states, answered the door to find a uniformed police officer standing on the doormat. Holly’s heart plummeted into her shoes. She and Sarah exchanged panicked glances.

“Good afternoon, ma’am,” He said. “Is your husband at home?”

“Uh…” Diane’s head snapped back and shot a warning look at Holly and Sarah before shouting, “Daryl! Door for you!”

Her father came limping out of his room where he had been resting, cursing under his breath. His steps slowed when he saw the officer at the door, and shot a angry glance at Holly, who gulped.

“Afternoon, sir,” The officer said.

“Good afternoon,” Holly’s dad replied in a cordial tone. “What can I do for you?”

“Well, I don’t want to make any accusations, but we did get an anonymous tip that there could potentially be some abuse happening at this residence against your daughter,” The officer said casually. “I’m just here to make sure everything is alright.”

“Everything is fine, as you can see,” Daryl said, motioning at Sarah. Holly did her best to fade into the shadows.

“You don’t mind if I ask your daughter some questions, do you?” The officer asked. “Standard procedure.”

“Go right ahead,” Daryl responded.

The officer stopped in front of Sarah and bent down. Behind him, Holly’s father looked at her with a fury she’d never seen before. She knew as soon as this cop left, it was going to get ugly quick. Holly began the arduous mental preparation she needed to survive the beating she was about to get. She prayed to whoever would listen that Sarah wouldn’t see it.

“Hey, sweetie,” The officer said in that sickly saccharine voice people used on kids, which most kids hated. “You doing okay?”

“Yeah,” Sarah said, her lines well rehearsed. “I’m okay.”

“Can I ask you about your daddy?” The cop said.

Sarah shrugged. “Sure.”

“Does your daddy ever hit you?”

“No,” Sarah said truthfully.

“Does he ever touch you in a place where he shouldn’t?”

“No.”

“Does he ever do things that hurt you?”

“No.”

The officer nodded. “Okay, sweetie, now can you do me a favor and show me your arms?”

Sarah held out her arms and he appeared to check them for bruises. He also instructed her to pull up the back of her shirt and the hems of her pants for the same reason, and found nothing.

“Okay, you did a good job, sweetie,” He said, standing and patting her head. He then turned his attention to Holly, and her throat felt like it was closing up.

“Have you ever witnessed any abuse to this little girl?” He asked her.

“No,” Holly replied, keeping her voice as steady as she possibly could.

“You’ve never seen him hit hurt or touch her inappropriately?”

“Not once,” Holly replied. “I can say with all honesty that he has never abused Sarah. Never.”

The officer shrugged. “Alright. That’s all I needed.” He made toward the front door, shaking Daryl’s hand as he passed. “You have a good day, sir.”

“You too, officer,” Daryl said. He stayed by the window, waiting until the cop had gotten into his car and had driven away.

Holly took this time to grab Sarah and put her in her room. Diane escaped to her bedroom like a shot.

“Lock this door and no matter what you hear, do not come out for anything, do you understand me?” Holly said in a rushed, panicked voice.

Sarah was scared and crying, gripping onto Holly’s shirt. “ _Holly…_ ”

“Do it!” Holly whispered desperately, prying Sarah off of her, nudged her through the doorway, and pulling the door shut. “Lock it, Sarah!”

Just as the lock slid into place, Holly felt something collide with the back of her head.

“You fucking bitch!” Her father howled.

“I didn’t tell anyone, I swear to God!” She cried. “I didn’t! I swear I didn’t!”

“I thought we had a deal!” He said. He took hold of her hair and smashed her face into the wall twice. “What was the deal, Holly? Remind me!”

“I didn’t tell anyone!” She sobbed. “Please, I didn’t! I wouldn’t, I swear!”

“You want me to keep my hands off Sarah? Huh? Wasn’t that the deal?” He knocked Holly’s feet out from under her and pinned her to the ground, holding both of her hands above her head with one of his and punching her in the face with the other. “Who’s fault is it going to be if I don’t?”

“Don’t you fucking touch her!” Holly choked, blood leaking from her mouth.

“What are you gonna do about it, huh?” He delivered another punch to her side that robbed her of air. “What the fuck are you gonna do?!”

“I’ll fucking kill you, you son of a bitch,” Holly said while gasping for breath, trying not to asphyxiate on her blood.

“Oh, you think you’re a big bitch now, huh, you little fuck?” He said, grabbing her by her hair and pulling her up. He took his knife out of his pocket and flicked it open, starting to cut off her shirt.

“No, don’t, please,” She wept, struggling against the grip on her hair. “Please, don’t. Please.

“Yeah, not such big shit anymore, are you?” He said, continuing to cut her clothes off her body. He dragged her by her scalp, crying and kicking, to her bedroom, and closed the door behind him.

* * *

 

Her father left early the next morning without telling anyone, leaving Holly battered on the floor of her bedroom, unable to move or talk. Sarah helped Holly get cleaned up and put her to bed, tears streaming down her face the entire time. She also had to call into work for Holly, telling them that she’d be taking her vacation days and wasn’t sure when she’d be back. No one questioned it.

Holly wish she could spare Sarah the sight of her in this sorry state, but she was badly injured and there would be no going to the hospital. The only person who could help Holly was Sarah, and she hated every second she had to see that heartbroken look on her younger sister’s face.

By the next Monday, Holly had healed enough to walk and take care of herself, even if she was still in a lot of pain, and went back to work. The look of horrified disgust on Ms. Janice’s face said it all, but Holly couldn’t miss anymore days. She needed the money.

Ravadhi came in the following Tuesday and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Holly, staring at her in shock and horror. Holly refused to help or speak to him, an eventually he left in a disgruntled huff.

She wasn’t stupid, she knew exactly who had called in the anonymous tip to the police. She warned him this would happen. Nobody cared. No one had ever cared.

The next day, he came in again, determined to get answers this time.

“Will you please talk to me?” He begged.

“I have nothing to say to you,” Holly told him as she reshelved returns.

“Please,” He said. “Please tell me who’s doing this. Is it your dad? It is, isn’t it?”

“Stop asking me questions,” Holly snapped.

“Let me help. We can go to the police and--”

“It’s a late for that, isnt it?!” Holly said, rounding on him. “A cop showed up at our house. How do you think _this_ happened?” She gestured at her face.

He frowned, upset. “The police already went to your house?”

“Yes, asshole!” She shot back. “ _This_ happened as soon as he left! _This_ is what happens when people think they know what’s best and interfere! Nobody give a shit about us, don’t you get that? You don’t know me! You don’t know my family and you don’t know what you’re doing, so stop trying to help me! Stay away from me before you get me and my sister killed!”

She slammed the books on the nearest desk and walked away, leaving him looking stricken in her wake.

“Don’t throw my phone numbers away,” He called after her. “Even if you never speak to me again, keep them, please. Just in case.”

She ignored him and kept walking.

Ravadhi stopped coming to the library, but Holly did see him every once in a while on the campus grounds, walking to and from classes. He would see her and attempt to smile, but she never returned them and behaved as if she couldn’t see him at all.

Ms. Janice seemed pleased that Holly had given him the short shrift.

“I’m glad he’s not hanging around here anymore, if I’m totally honest,” She said haughtily one night as the two of them were closing up. “I don’t even know why they allow someone like _him_ in this school anyway.”

“That’s racist, Ms. Janice,” Holly told her flatly.

“No, I don’t mean that,” Ms. Janice hissed at her. “He’s a criminal. He spend five years in prison.”

Holly’s head jerked up in surprise. “What?”

“Yeah, didn’t you know?” She said, her voice dropping to a gossipy whisper, despite there not being anyone in the library. “Accessory to murder.”

“You’re kidding me,” Holly said. “You know that for sure?”

“Everyone was talking about it when he got to town,” Ms. Janice said. “Didn’t you hear about it?”

“I don’t listen to gossip and you shouldn’t either,” Holly said dismissively. “What proof do you have that he’s an ex-con?”

“Why else would he be almost thirty and just starting college?”

“People can decide to better themselves at any age, Ms. Janice, you’re just being judgemental.”

“If you say so,” She said, shrugging. “All I know is I wouldn’t want to meet him alone after dark. And the way he followed you around was just creepy.”

“He was never anything more than nice to me, Ms. Janice,” Holly said defensively. “He even defended me from Lawrence and his dillhole best friend. He’s not a bad guy. I just… don’t need the complication.”

“If he’s not a bad guy, why are you avoiding him?”

“I’m not avoiding him,” Holly said, annoyed. “We’re not friends. We never were.”

“Mm-hmm. If you say so,” She repeated.

The next day, she finally was able to buy the scooter she wanted. Her father agreed to it really easily, which Holly found suspicious. He did things like this every once in a while, something on the edge of being nice. It was the closest thing he ever got to an apology.

Oh, god, it was so nice not to have to wait for the bus. It was so nice to be able to leave the library and get home without making fifty stops. This was the best decision Holly ever made.

Until it was stolen two weeks later.

She sat on the steps of the library in the dark, alone, after having given the police report on the theft hours ago. Fortunately she had called Sarah to tell her what was going on and knew that her dad wasn’t home, so it wouldn’t be as awful as normal. She could expect a pretty sarcastic, self-satisfied lecture about it when he did get home, though, but she could suffer that just fine.

A familiar blue truck pulled into the parking lot and she growled to herself and rolled her eyes.

“Hey there,” He said cautiously as he stepped out, wearing his blue mechanic’s uniform, walking up slowly as if approaching a large animal and expecting an attack.

“Hey,” Holly said flatly, not looking at him.

“So…” He said, clapping his hands awkwardly. “I know I’m probably the last person you want to talk to right now, but it’s ten o’clock at night and your sitting in front of the library, which closed an hour ago, and I gotta wonder why.”

“Did I ever mention to you that I was saving up to buy a scooter?”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, four guys loaded it into a truck and drove off with it about five hours ago.”

He scoffed in disgust. “Are you serious? Ugh, this town is the worst. Why did I move back here?”

“Job,” Holly reminded him.

“Oh, yeah,” he said. “That.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Job,” He repeated. “They found out why the mens’ toilets in the lecture hall are backing up. Yeah, people are stuffing their failed papers in them to piss off the dean.”

“Ah, yeah, that’s sort of a tradition around here,” Holly said. “Probably should have mentioned that before.”

“Well, excellent! So, I get to go suck that shit out,” He said, a very fake smile of enthusiasm on his face. “Life is peaches.”

“Have fun with that,” She said dismissively.

“Yeah,” He said, taking his tools out of the bed of his truck. He paused before moving on. “Are you… gonna be okay out here?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Holly said, resting her forehead in her hand. “Take care of your toilets.”

He chewed his lip, but he moved off, leaving her in the cool night air. Once he’d finished an hour later, though, he came back out to find her still sitting there, having not moved an inch since he left. Her head was still sitting in her hand. He sighed and sat down next to her, close but not touching.

“Are you afraid to go home?” He asked carefully.

“Not today,” She said, delicately hedging the question. “It’s safe today. I just…” She sighed heavily. “I don’t _want_ to go home. I don’t _want_ to go back to that house. Everything about it gives me anxiety and I just don’t want to be there.”

He sat quietly, eyeing her, testing his boundaries. “When’s the last time you’ve eaten?”

“Breakfast,” She said, rubbing her neck. “I spent all my money on that stupid scooter, so I couldn’t get lunch or dinner.”

“Let me buy you something to eat,” He said, quickly putting up his hands in a placating gesture when she glared at him. “Not a date, I promise you. But I can’t let my friend starve.”

“Who says I’m your friend?” She asked acerbically.

“Fine, I can’t let a good person starve.”

“Who says I’m a good person?” She stared out into the distance, her eyes hollow.

“Look,” He said, knitting his fingers together with his elbows resting on his knees. “I made a mistake, and you paid for it, and I’m sorry. I should have butt out when you told me to, but it’s… it’s hard to see someone you care about get…” He faltered, his voice growing uneven again. He took a minute to gain composure. “It’s hard to know their hurting and not want to do something about it. I did the wrong thing and I’m sorry.”

Holly didn’t answer. No one had ever apologized to her, at least not sincerely, and she didn’t know how to respond.

“I won’t insist on it if you’re completely opposed to the idea, but I would like, at the very least, to get some food in your stomach. Think of it as my way of saying sorry,” He offered gently. “But if you say no, I won’t keep bothering you.”

Holly scrubbed her face and massaged her neck, looking up at the clear sky and the stars. It was the nicest thing anyone had offered to do for her in a long time, and considering all she had waiting at home was a bag of ramen and a whole lot of bad memories, she was inclined to accept.

“Dinner sounds nice,” She said softly.


	3. Chapter 3

They pulled up to Rod’s Diner on the other end of town, which was the only place that stayed open twenty four hours. Ravadhi led her to the booth at the very back and let her take her seat before sitting on the other side of the booth across from her.

“This place has great cheesecake,” Holly said. “I’ve only been here a few times with Sarah, but I always get it.”

“I’m buying, so get whatever you want. Get some cheesecake. Hell, get two,” Ravadhi said with a smile.

“No, no, a sandwich is fine,” Holly insisted.

“Hey, Vadhi!” The waitress said when she saw him. “Good to see you again, sweetie.” He waved at her as she approached and gave her a friendly smile.

She was an elderly tiefling lady, grey all over but wearing a pink waitress uniform, with frazzled hair and curly horns. Her chipped hooves were capped with plastic hoof guards to prevent them from scuffing the floor. Her wings, however, were preened to perfection and folded flat against her back. Her voice had a pleasant lilt to it that suggested she had originated in a European country but had been living in America for quite a long time.

“This your girl?” She asked, eyeing Holly. “She’s awful pretty.”

Holly raised an eyebrow at this woman but didn’t comment. Was she blind?

“No, no, Phyllis,” Ravadhi laughed. “This is my friend, Holly. She’s had a bad day, so I’m treating her to dinner.”

“Aw, you poor thing,” Phyllis said sympathetically. “Well, I hope we can lift your spirits.” She turned back to Ravadhi. “If she ain’t your girl, you need to get one. Cute thing like you don’t need to be alone all the time.”

He chuckled nervously, and it was the first time Holly had seen Ravadhi blush. “Thanks, Phyllis, but you know I’m too busy for a girlfriend. And besides, what girl’s gonna take care of me like you do, eh?”

Phyllis giggled like a schoolgirl and swatted at Ravadhi’s arm. “Oh, you hush. You two know what you want yet or should I come back?” She asked, her pen poised in her three fingered hand over a writing pad.

Ravadhi looked at Holly expectantly.

“Oh, uh…” She glanced at the menu briefly before picking the least expensive thing she could find. “Tomato soup and grilled cheese, please?”

He narrowed his eyes at her in consternation.

“What to drink, sweetheart?” Phyllis asked.

“Water is fine for me, thank you,” Holly replied.

“And for you, Vadhi?” She asked Ravadhi.

“I will take the half-pound bacon burger with literally every condiment you’re legally allow to put on it, the breakfast platter with extra eggs, scrambled, two orders of chili fries with extra cheese, and plenty of coffee.” He glanced at Holly briefly before adding, “Oh, and two huge slices of cheesecake, please.”

A glare of exasperation drifted across Holly’s face. He smiled back innocently.

“You got it, honey,” Phyllis said, taking the menus. “I’ll get this all fixed up for you.”

“Thank you, Phyllis, you’re an angel,” Ravadhi called after as she walked off.

Holly stared at him, horrifically impressed at the amount of food he’d just ordered.

“I am a growing boy,” He said with a sniff.

“I will agree that you’re a child,” She said.

He chuckled, knitting his fingers together on the table. Holly noticed he tended to do that when we was nervous or uncertain. The green of Ravadhi’s skin was muted under the florescence bulbs of the diner, making the brown show through a little better. It wasn’t the first time Holly wondered about his heritage.

“You’re not a full-blooded orc, are you?” Holly asked him.

“No,” He replied. “No… my, uh, my mother was a human physician from Nepal. My father met her when he was in the military and broke his leg by being an idiot. Runs in the family, apparently,” He said, laughing at himself a bit. “It was love at first sight, as they told it.”

“Do you have brothers or sisters?”

“I did have,” He said, trying and failing to sound casual. “I had a brother and sister. Shalva and Ehani. They both died with my parents.”

“I”m sorry,” Holly replied.

This led to an awkward silence that stretched out.

It took less than ten minutes for the food to arrive. The diner was pretty dead at this hour, so the cook managed to crank out their order in no time. When the food arrived, and there was barely enough room on the table to hold it all.

“I can’t believe you’re going to eat this much food,” Holly said in disgust.

“Oh, no, I’m only going to eat the burger and one order of the chili fries. The rest is for you.”

“Wha…” Holly sighed. “I can’t eat all this!”

“Well, then, just eat what you want. Phyllis will bag up the leftovers and I’ll eat it for breakfast. Although, you should at least eat the fries. Old fries are gross.”

“You’re a piece of work,” Holly said.

“Yeah, I am,” He grinned. “Thank you for noticing.”

She grabbed a fork and shoved a fry into her mouth while rolling her eyes. He smiled.

Holly wanted so much to hate him and be angry at him and push him away, but she couldn’t muster proper amount of agitation. He was… _sweet_. It was like he was being nice just because he genuinely wanted to be nice without expecting to gain something from her, which no one had ever done before. It was… soothing and disconcerting all at once, and she didn’t know how to unpack the emotions.

“Can I ask what happened?” She said as they ate. “To your family, I mean. I know it was a car accident, but… You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s fine, uh, they… they were going camping and were driving up a mountain road in the fog. A semi came out of nowhere and they collided head-on at fifty miles an hour.” He took a deep breath, picking his fingernails. “My parents died right away and my sister wasn’t far behind. My brother was pulled out and taken to a hospital, but he died the next day.”

“You were the only survivor?” Holly asked.

“No, no, I wasn’t there, I was spending that week with a friend,” He said uncomfortably, shifting in his seat.

“God,” Holly breathed. “That’s terrible. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to Sarah. She’s all I have.”

“What about your mom?” He asked.

“Oh, she… she took off when I was eight,” Holly said. “Not that I blame her, I just wish she had taken me with her.”

“Where did she go?”

“I’m not sure,” Holly replied. “Dad said she went to Florida, but I don’t know, he may have just said that to get me to stop asking. I got a letter from her a few weeks after she left saying she’d come back for me one day when she had the money, but I haven’t heard from her since, except for divorce papers she sent Dad so he could get remarried a few years later.”

“Shit,” He said, grimacing. “What’s your step-mom like?”

“Fucking useless,” Holly grumbled. “She’s been addicted to pills since my dad met her. She didn’t even go off them when she was pregnant with Sarah, which is why Sarah was premature and is partially deaf because she had hydrocephaly when she was born.”

“Fuck me,” Ravadhi said. “…and your dad?” He asked cautiously.

Holly clear her throat and took a sip of her water. “I have nothing to say about my dad. And I’d appreciate if you didn’t ask about him.”

He stared at her hard. “Wanna talk about something else?”

“Literally anything else,” Holly said.  

“Fine by me,” He said, shrugging casually. “Tell me about Sarah.”

“Oh,” Holly said. “She’s great. I love her to bits. She’s the smartest in her class. She likes computers and engineering. She loves building things, not that she’s really allowed to at home, which is why I take her to the science center as often as I can.”

He smiled as he listened to her speak so animatedly about something. “How old is she?”

“Ten, but I swear, she talks like a fifty year old sometimes,” Holly laughed.

“Does she know sign language? You said she was partially deaf, so is that a thing?”

Holly sighed, her smile fading. “No, she doesn’t know sign language.”

“Why not?”

“She just doesn’t.”

He frowned. “Is this one of the things I’m not allowed to ask about?”

She glared at him and stayed silent.

He sighed and changed the subject. “Why did you take a creative writing course at the college?”

“Easy, I want to be a writer.”

“What do you want to write about?”

“I don’t know,” Holly said truthfully. “I’ve read plenty of advice blogs about writing that say ‘write what you know, write what you love,’ but I don’t know all that much. And what I love is cheesy mystery novels.”

“What’s wrong with that? I love cheesy mystery novels, too,” Ravadhi said with a grin.

“It’s not very original,” Holly complained.

“So?” He said. “It’s a formula that works. And there are ways of making it new and exciting.”

“Eh…” Holly shrugged. “I just feel like everything has been written already. There aren’t any new ideas. But hey,” She said. “At least I got a job out of it.”

“See? There’s a bright side,” He said, smiling. Did he always have to look so sweet when he smiled? It was really annoying.

In seemingly no time at all, the two of them had finished all of the food in front of them, including the cheesecake, and Ravadhi laid out a bunch of bills on the table.

“Ready to go?” He asked her.

Holly sighed sadly. “Yeah, I guess,” She replied softly. Reluctantly.

Ravadhi stared at her with his brows knitted together. He really didn’t want her to go back to that house, either.

“If you could go anywhere right now, where would it be? Feasibly.”

“Anywhere?” She asked, looking wistfully out of the window. She bit her lip and thought. “You know Willow Creek? That tributary that all the kids go to in the summer to swim and stuff?”

“Yeah, my siblings and I went a time or two when I was a kid.”

“Well, when I was about five, some of the adults built this ground level tree house type thing for the younger kids to play in so they didn’t get away from them in the water and drown. My mom used to take me there at night sometimes when my dad was passed out and we would just sit there and eat dinner and talk to each other.” Holly breathed a soft laugh that left a fading fog on the window. “It’s some of the best memories I have of her. After she left, Dad forbade me from keeping or doing anything that reminded me of her, so I haven’t been in a long time. I’ve never even taken Sarah there. But if I could go anywhere, I’d go there.”

“Okay,” Ravadhi said. He cocked his head toward the door. “Let’s go.”

“Really?” Holly said. “It’s nearly midnight. Don’t you have work in the morning?”

“I’ve pulled all-nighters before, it’s not a big deal,” He said, shrugging. “Besides, I think you need this. So let’s go.”

Holly grumbled a little. “I’m not sure I trust you enough to be alone in the woods near a running body of water. It’s, like, prime serial killer real estate.”

“That’s okay, too,” He said pleasantly, smiling. “It’s just an offer.”

She looked at his face, open and honest, friendly and inviting, and made a decision.

“No… you’re right. I do need this. Let’s go.”

It wasn’t far from the diner to the creek, maybe ten minutes. Holly stepped out of Ravadhi’s truck and smelled the scent of water and trees and clean dirt, and many good memories flooded her mind. She inhaled deeply with her eyes closed, letting it wash over her, feeling real calm for the first time in a long time.

She led him down a hard-to-see pathway to a medium sized wooden structure with a tree sticking out of the middle of it. It looked like a mini house, painted green and blue, with a door and windows set into it. She could still see the sparkle of the creek through the trees from where it stood.

It had graffiti and some trash around it, but Holly didn’t care. Assholes were assholes, and this place was still great. She did pick up a few things and put them in the nearby garbage can, just out of principle.

“I wonder if it’s still here,” She said as she made her way toward the tree house.

“What?” He asked.

She ducked into the small entryway and futzed about, peering at the floorboards before prying one up and pulling out a tin box. She sat on the ground and opened it, pulling out a single picture. She held it with both hands and smiled at it with glimmering eyes.

“I can’t believe no one has found this yet,” She said. “Or maybe they did and just weren’t dicks about it.”

Ravadhi came to sit with her cross-legged on the ground, peering over her shoulder at the picture. It was of a woman and a young girl.

“Your mom?”

“Yeah,” Holly whispered. “It’s the only picture I have of her.”

“You look like her,” He said.

“Really?” Holly said brightly through her tears.

“Yeah.” He said, smiling kindly. “Why… why did she leave?”

Holly sighed. “I can’t tell you.”

“Why?”

“I just can’t.”

He groaned in aggravation. “Look, I know abuse when I see it. I’ve seen enough street kids running from abusive homes to recognize it, with or without the bruises. I know it’s hard to talk about it, but you can tell me. You can tell me anything.”

She wiped her eyes and coughed. “Speaking of uncomfortable topics of conversation,” She began in a desperate effort to change the subject. “I heard a rumor about you.”

He paused and looked up at her curiously. “Oh?”

“Yeah,” She replied off-handedly. “Normally I don’t listen to rumors, but this is kind of a big one.”

He looked unhappy but resigned. “I think I know what it was you heard.”

She nodded. “Are you really an ex-con? Were you in actual prison?”

He picked at his fingernails again, another thing he did when he was uncomfortable. He didn’t answer.

“Look,” She said. “I’ll make you a deal. You tell me the truth about the prison rumor, and…” She gulped her heart back down into her chest. “I’ll tell you… you know. Only because I know you’ll _never tell anyone, will you_?” She glared at him pointedly.

“No,” He said seriously. “No, I won’t. I promise. I learned my lesson.”

“Good,” She said. “Deal?”

He nodded his head. “Yes. Deal.”

“Okay,” She said, sitting with her back to the wooden walls and folding her arms. “Talk.”

He sighed forcefully. “Okay… okay… well…” He knitted his fingers again, resting his elbows on his knees, looking out the glassless windows at the creek as it slid by in the moonlight.

“My family did this… camping trip every year at spring break. It was a big deal for my parents; it was a chance to take time out of their busy schedules and spend ten full days with their kids having the best time with no work or school or distractions. They… cherished it. My siblings and I loved it, too. But the year I turned twelve, a friend of mine was having this big, huge week-long sleepover party at his house, and I was one of three people he invited, and the only one he invited who wasn’t human. Well, all human.”

He stopped speaking and took several deep breaths. Holly watched his tense posture in concern.

“I wanted to go to the sleepover, and both of my parents said no. I was pissed; I thought I was too old for the camping trip. I just wanted to stay with my friends that year. My dad and I got into a big fight, and he told me I was going whether I liked it or not. He sent me to bed early, and I packed a bag and snuck out to my friend’s house.”

“You were kind of a shit, weren’t you?” Holly asked.

He snickered. “Yeah, kinda. Comes with being the oldest, I guess.” He cleared his throat. “Dad knew where I was and he came to get me, and I refused to leave. I told him…” He scrubbed his face, scowling at himself. “I told him I hoped he never came back and that I’d never see him again.” He sat back against the wall next to you and sighed angrily. “I didn’t even say goodbye to my mother or Ehani or Shalva.”

“When did you find out what happened?”

“About five days later. There I was at this stupid sleepover having the time of my life, not knowing that my actual life was over. The people who found them, the police from out of town, didn’t know they had a third kid until a few days later, and then it took them time to track me down, because the only people who knew where I was were either at the sleepover or dead.”

“Jesus.”

“I was taken from my friend’s place back to my empty house. They gave me ten minutes to throw a bunch of my shit into a garbage bag and then they took me to a foster home, and then another foster home, and then a group home for non-human orphans no one wanted. And I was sick of that place after about a year, so I ran away and lived on the street for a while, where I got pretty heavily into drugs.”

“Which one?”

“Oh, all of them,” He said. “Anything to make me feel less guilty. Alcohol worked too. I just wanted to sleep and not feel anything.”

“God, do I understand that feeling,” Holly muttered. “Sorry, I didn’t--”

“No, no, it’s fine,” He said, waving his hands. “Well, when I was about sixteen, I owed a guy something like five hundred dollars for some heroin he gave me, and he said he would forgive it if I was a lookout for a robbery at a pharmacy he was planning, and I agreed to do it because I was fairly certain he’d cut off one of my arms if I didn’t. I just had to stand outside and watch for cops, that’s it. I was lucky with the size I was that he didn’t want me to be his muscle.” He scowled and crossed his arms over his chest and chuckled blackly. “ _Lucky._ ”

“What happened?”

“We did the robbery, during which I stood outside, like I was supposed to, and when he was done, he gave me a hundred bucks and a bottle of percocets, and we went our separate ways. He was not a bright dude, and didn’t realized he had been caught on tape, and I didn’t know that he had beaten the pharmacist almost to death. He’s still on a respirator to this day.”

“Oh god,” Holly said, aghast.

“The police caught us both, and he sent me up the river as fast as he could, trying to get a plea deal, which he would never get because I pled guilty immediately. I was sentenced to eight years in jail, but I got out after five.”

“Good lord,” Holly said. “What have you been doing since then?”

“I moved around between a lot of halfway houses, trying to figure out how to be an actual adult with freedom after five years in prison. Especially since I was on probation for another five years after being released,” He heaved a heavy sigh. “But I’ve been sober for thirteen years, and I’m finally hitting my stride, I think. It took a really long time and a lot of stumbling, but I’m finally in a good place.”

“Well, the last thing you need is me in your life, then” Holly said. “Trouble seems to be my default state of being.”

He glanced at Holly sideways. “I know this is hard for you to talk about, but…”

“It’s not that it’s hard,” She said. “Well, I mean, it is, but that’s not why I didn’t want to talk about it.”

“Then why didn’t you?”

She ground her teeth, knowing she was about to take a huge risk and hoping she wasn’t going to regret it.

“I have an agreement with my dad.”

“What kind of agreement?”

“For Sarah,” She said. “I have to follow three rules to keep Sarah… safe.”

“What are they?”

She held up her hand and began to count on her fingers. “Number one, I never leave or run away. I must always return to the house every night, no matter what the circumstances. Number two, I must never fight back or attempt to hide. If he comes after me, I must accept whatever punishment he sees fit with no complaint or resistance. Number three, and most importantly, I must _never tell anyone_.” She let her hand fall into her lap and glared at him. “You realize, by even telling you about the agreement, I’m violating it.”

He nodded.

“If he finds out, everything he does to me, he’ll do to Sarah. I’ve kept her safe for ten years and I can’t fail her now.”

“How can you be sure he hasn’t hurt her?” Ravadhi asked, his brow furrowed.

“I’ve put precautionary measures in place,” She replied. “Until the recent night job, I was always home with her anytime he was home. There’s a baby monitor under her bed that’s connected to a receiver in my room. I installed a deadbolt on her door and replaced the hinge screws with longer ones so he can’t kick it in. But more than that, she talks to me. If he were hurting her, she’d tell me.”

He let his head fall back against the wall with an audible thump. “Christ. When did this start? Has it always been like this?”

“No,” Holly said. “It started after my mom left. Apparently she had made a similar deal with my dad for my safety, which was voided when she disappeared. It’s where I got the idea, actually.”

She didn’t tell him that the _other_ stuff didn’t start happening until puberty. Despite laying bare her horrifying family history, there were still things she could bring herself to tell him. It was a personal shame that she’d never be able to tell anyone.

His hands balled up in his lap. “Why doesn’t anyone _do_ anything?”

“It’s a small town, Ravadhi,” Holly said, deadpan. “Everyone knows and no one cares. That’s just the way it works.”

“ _Everyone_ knows?” He asked in disbelief.

“Of course they do,” She replied grimly. “The doctors knew when he broke my arm in seventh grade. My co-worker at the library, she knows. I can see it on her face when I come to work with bruises. Has she ever asked me about it? No. Of course not.”

“That’s just… It’s just… _wrong_ ,” He said vehemently.

“Welcome to Willowridge,” Holly said flatly.

“Is there anything I can do?” He asked desperately. “I hate this. You’re my friend and I care about you and I hate that you have to just take it. And the thing I hate the most is that I can’t do anything to help.”

She looked up at his face, stricken and upset, and felt herself smile.

“What?” He asked, confused.

“You know, this is the first time I’ve ever gotten it out in the open. I don’t even talk about it with Sarah. We both know it’s happening, but we just… don’t talk about it.” She reached out, for the first time she could remember seeking touch from someone other than her sister, and laid her hand in his. “You have no idea how much that helps.”

His fingers closed around hers, but he didn’t squeeze, in case she felt the need to pull away.

“I wish there was more I could do,” He said sadly. “It’s not enough.”

“It’s a start,” She said. “And it’s more than I could have hoped for.”

They talked for another hour, listening to the burbling of the creek in the background. They clasped hands the entire time, with Ravadhi leaving his grip open in the event that Holly got tired of it and wanted to extricate herself, though she never did.

Finally, Holly decided she needed to get home so that Sarah wouldn’t be worrying about her all night, and allowed Ravadhi to drive her home. The lights in the house were off and her father’s truck wasn’t there, so Holly was at ease when she bid him goodbye, telling him she’d see him tomorrow.

As it was now two in the morning, Ravadhi fell into bed wearing his work clothes, not caring if he had to wash the bed linens tomorrow. He was exhausted and fell asleep instantly. He was so exhausted, in fact, that when his cell phone rang two hours later, he almost slept right through it.

He fumbled in the dark for the phone and looked at the screen with one eye closed against the brightness, seeing that it was a number he didn’t recognize.

“Hello?” He said in a bleary croak. All he could hear was heavy breathing on the other end.

“Hello? Who is this?”

He heard the person whisper something, but he couldn’t make it out. He felt himself grow frustrated.

“Look, I’m sorry, whoever this is, but it’s four in the morning and I have work in three hours, so tell me what you want or hang up.”

He heard it then. The person on the other end forced out another gasping whisper, and he heard his name.

“ _Ravadhi,_ ” They pleaded.

He came instantly awake, sitting up in bed like he’d been hit by a bolt of lightening.

“Holly?”

“ _Help me,_ ” She sobbed. Her breathing was labored and crackling.

“What’s wrong?” He asked in a panic, grabbing his keys and wallet from the night table. “What happened?”

“ _I can’t breathe…_ ” She wheezed, a horribly wet cough following these words, and she gasped in a rasping breath of air.

“I’m on my way, okay?” He said as he flew out of his front door and into the driver’s seat of his truck. “I’m coming. Just hold on, sweetheart, I’m coming, okay? Don’t hang up, talk to me. Stay with me.”

“ _Hurry,_ ” She cried.

Ravadhi threw the truck into reverse and sped out of his driveway, praying he wouldn’t be too late.


	4. Chapter 4

Ravadhi raced back to Holly’s house, where all the lights were still off. He had been trying to keep her talking, but she was losing speech quickly.

“Where are you, honey?” He asked quietly over his cell phone.

“ _In the back… under my window,_ ” She wheezed, her breathing horribly shallow. “ _Left side._ ”

He tiptoed around the back of the house and found her lying on her side on the ground, covered in blood and bruises, wearing only a large night shirt and underwear. Blood dripped out of her mouth and nose and the whites of her eyes were completely red.

She clutched a cordless phone to her ear, which she let go of when she saw him approach. The phone fell away, her bloody hand print visible even in the dark.

“Jesus Christ,” He breathed, gently turning her and brushing the blood-soaked hair from her face. “What happened?”

“He’s home,” She said, a horrible gurgling accompanying her words. “He saw you drop me off. He was _so mad_ …” Her face crumpled as she started to cry and she struggled to breathe.

“Calm down, honey,” He whispered, moving her carefully so that he could pick her up with minimal jostling. “I’m gonna take you to the hospital, okay? Just hold on and stay awake for me.”

“ _No,_ ” She said in a low moan. “ _Sarah…_ ”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart, I’m so sorry,” Ravadhi said in dismay. “But I have to get you to a doctor now. I’ll come back and deal with your dad. If I have to go back to jail to keep him from hurting Sarah, I will. But right now, I gotta get you out of here and to a hospital or you’re going to die.”

Holly cried, choking on her own blood, but didn’t struggle as he lifted her off the ground, and he ran her back to his truck as quickly as he could. He sat her in the passenger seat and clipped her seatbelt in place, then hopped in the other side and took off like he was a pit racer.

He reached the first light into town and debated on stopping for the red, except her head slumped forward and she appeared to stop breathing.

“Are you hanging in there, honey?” He asked her, and she didn’t respond. “Holly, answer me!”

Nothing. He floored it, ignoring the stoplight and gunning it through the intersection. He pushed his old truck as far as it would go, not even stopping when he saw the red and blue lights flashing behind his car.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” He said, looking in his rearview, but he couldn’t stop. She was losing precious time.

He pulled up to the E.R. door and skidded to a stop, not even acknowledging the police as they pulled their guns and told him to lay down on the ground. He pulled her door open and took her from the car, running into the E.R. and calling for help, shocking the police into lowering their weapons.

“I need a doctor!” He shouted, his voice carrying through the empty lobby. A nurse rushed out of reception and grabbed a nearby gurney.

“What happened?” She asked.

“Her father beat her,” Ravadhi replied as he lay her on the blue plastic of the gurney.

“What did be beat her with?” The nurse asked, trying to open Holly’s eyes to flash a light into them, gauging the response of her pupils.

“I don’t know,” He said desperately. “She just called me and said her dad was home and angry at her, but she has admitted to me that he hits her often. That’s all I know.”

“How long ago?” She asked.

“I don’t know,” Ravadhi repeated. “But she called me twenty minutes ago. I think she’s got some broken ribs and is probably bleeding into her lungs. She’s been unresponsive for three minutes, at least.”

“What’s her name?”

“Holly Stevenson.”

The nurse was then joined by a doctor and another nurse, who wheeled her away, leaving Ravadhi standing in the lobby, covering in her blood.

“On your knees, son,” One of the cops said, putting a hand on his shoulder. Ravadhi complied, putting his hands behind his head. “Got any weapons on you?”

“Just a pocket knife, sir,” Ravadhi said. “Left back pocket.”

“Any drugs or paraphernalia on you?”

“No, sir,” Ravadhi answered.

He felt them remove his knife and pat him down, then they put him in cuffs.  

“How do you know the girl you were with?”

“She’s my best friend. She works at the library where I go to school.”

“Did you do that to her?”

“No, sir.”

“Who did it, then?”

“Her dad, sir.”

“Who’s her dad?”

“Daryl Stevenson.”

There was a heavy silence that followed those words.

“Okay, son, stand up for me,” The officer said, pulling on Ravadhi’s upper arm, and Ravadhi got to his feet. “We’re going to detain you for right now until we get this sorted out.”

“Yes, sir,” Ravadhi said.

“We’re gonna impound your truck, too, since it was involved in a high speed chase and is also a potential crime scene, okay?” The officer said as he led him out of the hospital.

“Yes, sir, I understand.”

“And I’m just gonna inform you now that it’s gonna be searched, alright?”

“Yes, sir.”

The officer then read Ravadhi his rights before putting him in the back of a squad car and driving off toward the station.

Ravadhi had been sitting there in a holding cell for more than five hours, twitching with nervous energy, when someone finally came in. It was a grim-looking cheetah rakshasa wearing a suit.

“You’re not a cop,” Ravadhi said.

The rakshasa laughed shortly. “Sort of. My name is Tobin Freemont. I’m an agent with the Non-Human Hate Crime Division of the FBI. I got a call about your case an hour ago. I’ve taken the liberty of appointing you an advocate to make sure you’re treated fairly. Be sure not to say anything to anyone before he gets here.”

“Thank you,” Ravadhi said, confused but grateful. “There wasn’t a crime committed against me, though, sir.”

“Even still,” He said. “There’s a lot of prejudice against non-humans in law enforcement, even against Established races. The only reason I’m in town in the first place is due to a local discrimination case.”

“The rabbitman, right?” Ravadhi said. “I read about that in the paper.”

Freemont shrugged. “I can’t really talk about it. I’m just here now to make sure you’re represented properly.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out two cards. “This one is the number for your advocate. He should be here fairly soon to sit in on your interrogation. The second card has my cell number. If you feel like you’re being railroaded, let me know, and I’ll see what I can do for you.”

“I appreciate it, sir,” Ravadhi said, pocketing the cards. “My friend, Holly, do you know if she’s okay?”

“As far as I’m aware, she’s still in surgery. They’re trying to get the internal bleeding under control,” Freemont said. “She was beaten pretty badly. You say her father did that?”

“Yes,” Ravadhi said. “He’s been beating her for years.”

Freemont nodded in what Ravadhi guessed was agreement. “The doctor believes she was beaten with some sort of long object made of wood; he found splinters embedded in her skin. A big guy like you wouldn’t need a tool to do that kind of damage.”

Ravadhi grimaced. Orcs were nothing but massive killing machines, right? Sure, they were far stronger than the average human or humanoid, but the misconception that they were aggressive and bloodthirsty was a gross stereotype.

“I also saw her x-rays,” Freemont continued. “And they tell a pretty gruesome tale of long-term, systematic abuse. I believe you weren’t responsible for this.”

Ravadhi released the breath he was holding in relief. “Are they going to allow visitors?”

“I don’t know,” Freemont said. “But if I were you, I’d worry about getting myself out of jail first.”

Ravadhi nodded and Freemont left. Another hour or so later, a satyr came into the cell. He was taller than the average satyr, but still didn’t quite reach Ravadhi’s belt buckle. His blue, pin-stripe suit was tailored to fit over his goat legs stopping at the knee, with white fur covering him from knee to hoof.

“Mr. Silversmith?” He asked, eyeing Ravadhi’s bloody clothes.

“Yes, that’s me,” Ravadhi said.

He came forward with an outstretched hand. “I’m your non-human advocate, Terrib Song.”

Ravadhi shook his hand. “Thanks for coming.”

“No problem,” He sat on the opposite bench. “So let’s go over last nights events. I need you to give me a timeline: when you saw the victim, what you did, what you talked about, and the last time you saw her before she called you for help.”

Ravadhi spent about fifteen minutes laying out everything that happened the night before. Song wrote it all down, only stopping to ask an occasional question.

“I know this is a personal question,” Song asked. “But for the sake of transparency, are you and Holly engaged in a sexual relationship?”

“No, not at all,” Ravadhi said. “I did ask her out once, but she said she couldn’t because she had a lot of complications in her life at the time, and I respected that. We’ve stayed friends, but nothing more than that.”

“So there’s no reason your DNA would match the DNA from the rape kit, then, correct?”

“Why would they…” Ravadhi’s body went ice cold and his heart bottomed out. His hands began to shake in rage. “Oh, god,” Ravadhi said, holding his fist over his mouth in revulsion, feeling the bile in his stomach rise up his throat. “I’m gonna throw up. That sick son of a bitch.”

“Her father, you mean?”

“Yes!” Ravadhi shouted, getting up and pacing frenetically. “God fucking damn it! I knew it was bad, but if I had known about this, I’d have killed him months ago.” Ravadhi turned and shouted down the hall. “Hey, I need an officer down here!”

“Quiet down!” He heard an officer shout down the hall.

“Come on!” Ravadhi snarled, banging against the bars. He turned back to Song. “Do you have your phone?”

“Yes,” Song replied. “Do you want your phone call?”

“No, I need you to call Freemont and have him go to Holly’s house. He needs to get her sister out of there.”

“Do you believe she’s in imminent danger?” Song asked as he pulled out his phone.

“Yes,” Ravadhi said. “That asshole will move on to her with Holly gone. I promised Holly I’d look after Sarah while she was in the hospital, and I can’t do it in this cell.”

Song left the cell to have a private conference with Freemont out of Ravadhi’s earshot, during which time he stalked around his cell like a caged lion, barely suppressing the urge to punch a hole in the concrete wall.

Song came back to the cell with another officer, who unlocked it and motioned for Ravadhi to step out.

“You’re free to go for now, son,” The officer said.

“What happened?” Ravadhi asked.

“Daryl Stevenson has been arrested,” Song said. “Holly came out of surgery and regained consciousness long enough to write down who her attacker was. It was enough to get an arrest warrant. Once he was out of the house, the sister told the police everything, even giving them the wooden board her father had beaten Holly with and showing them where the attack happened. They’re gathering forensic evidence now.”

Ravadhi balled up his fists, his nails digging into his palm. “Is he here? In this building?”

“Don’t go down that road, kid,” The officer said. “You don’t need to go back to jail.”

“It would be worth it to choke the life out of him,” Ravadhi said under his breath as the officer walked away. So much for stereotypes.

“I didn’t hear that,” Song said. “Get home and get some rest. You’re still a person of interest and they’ll want to interview you, so don’t leave town.”

“I don’t plan to,” Ravadhi replied. “Thanks, Mr. Song.”

“I’ll be in touch,” Song said. “Don’t talk to anyone in law enforcement without me there, not even Freemont.”

Ravadhi took a taxi to a rental car place, and after renting the cheapest car on the lot, went home and took a shower, washing Holly’s blood off of him. He was supposed to be at work two hours ago, but he called his boss to tell him what was going on and gratefully accepted the next few days off to get things sorted out. Then he put on clean clothes and went to Holly’s house.

At his knock, a haggard middle-aged woman answered and looked him up and down with a dead-eyed glare.

“You a cop?” She asked.

“No, I’m not,” He said. “I’m Holly’s friend. I’m here to talk to Sarah.”

The woman scoffed and stepped aside, and Ravadhi came into the house. A bedroom to the far right had been cordoned off with police tape, which could only mean that it was Holly’s room. Ravadhi forced himself not to look at the large blood stain on the white carpet just inside the door.

Sarah was sitting at the kitchen table and stood when he walked in. She seemed too short and too skinny for her age, but whether it was stress or malnutrition, Ravadhi wasn’t sure.

“You’re Ravadhi, right?” She asked.

“Yes,” He replied.

Sarah took a deep breath, as though bracing herself. “Is Holly dead?”

“No, she’s in the hospital,” Ravadhi said. “I was going to go see her. I wanted to know if you’d like to come.”

“Yeah!” Sarah said eagerly. “Let me get my bag.” Sarah rushed to her room, leaving Ravadhi standing with Diane. He curled his lip at her.

“What?” She asked belligerently. “You gonna come into my house and judge me, boy? What the fuck do you know about me?”

“You’re just as guilty as he is,” Ravadhi snarled. “Everyone in this shit town is just as guilty. You should be locked up with him.”

“Fuck you, pig face,” Diane said.

Before Ravadhi could respond, Sarah returned.

“Ready to go?” He asked, and she nodded. With a parting scowl at Diane, they left.

Ravadhi had to lift Sarah up in his truck, since even by jumping, it was too tall for her, and got into the driver’s seat.

“Are you hungry?” He asked. “I can get you something to eat before we go.”

“No,” Sarah said, shaking her head. “I need to know that Holly’s okay. Maybe after?”

Ravadhi nodded. “Sure.” He cleared his throat. “I know that Holly made a deal to keep you safe, but when she went to the hospital, you were alone with your dad. Did he… do anything?”

Sarah shook her head again. “He didn’t have time. The cops showed up to arrest him before he woke up. Besides, I had my door locked and the emergency window breaker tool in my hand all night.”

Ravadhi breathed a sigh of relief and shifted into reverse, backing out of their driveway. “Holly really looks out for you, doesn’t she?”

“Yeah,” Sarah said sadly. “I wish she didn’t have to.”

“Maybe now, she won’t,” Ravadhi said. “Maybe now you guys will be safe.”

“I hope so,” Sarah said.

Back at the hospital, Holly was in intensive care, meaning only family members were allowed to visit her. Sarah was led back to her room while Ravadhi waited in the sitting area. After about an hour, Sarah returned.

“Is she alright?” Ravadhi asked, standing.

“Yeah, she’ll be okay, I think,” Sarah replied. “She had a tube in her throat to help her breath so she couldn’t talk, but she was awake for most of the time I was in there. I told her you were here and that dad was arrested and not at the house, and she seemed glad. Then the doctor came in and said that they got all the bleeding stopped, so she’ll be okay.”

“Oh, thank god,” Ravadhi breathed.

The intensive care unit only allowed visitors a few times a day for an hour at a time, so they would have to come back in a few hours for Sarah to see her again.

“Can we get food now?” Sarah said. “I’m starving.”

He smiled. “Sure, Squirt. What would you like?”

“Coffee,” She said. “And donuts.”

“You drink coffee?” Ravadhi said skeptically.

“I’ve been up all night, dude,” Sarah said sardonically. “It’s either coffee and donuts or meth.”

“Coffee sounds like the lesser of two evils, then,” Ravadhi said with a chuckle. “And to be completely honest, I could use one, too. But just this once. I think your sister might shoot me in the face if she knew I gave you coffee.”

“I think she’s got bigger things to worry about right now,” Sarah said morosely. Ravadhi unhappily agreed.

Tumble’s was the nicest coffee shop and bakery in town, especially since all that unpleasantness last year when his old shop burned down and he won that big settlement from the guy who torched it. Ravadhi had only been there once, since it wasn’t near his house, but it was on the way to Holly’s place, so they stopped in for a bite.

“Hello!” The woman at the counter called brightly. “Goodness, you guys look like you could use a pick-me-up.”

Ravadhi did have to admit they both looked pretty worn out, considering neither of them had slept.

“My sister is in the hospital,” Sarah explained.

“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that,” the woman said. “Well, my name is Lucy. Let’s see if I can’t brighten up your day a bit, okay? What’ll you two have?”

“Can I have a caramel latte with whipped cream and two of those jelly-filled donuts?” Sarah said.

Lucy looked from Sarah to Ravadhi for approval, and he nodded.

“Sure thing, honey,” She said, pulling down a cup. “And for you?”

“Um…” He said, looking at the menu. He heard something like chirping from behind the counter and looked back at Lucy in confusion. She laughed.

“It’s just the kids,” She said, pointing. Sarah and Ravadhi looked around the counter to a playpen that had three little fuzzy babies inside. Two were sleeping in separate swings while a third was batting at a mobile on a play mat, giggling and squeaking. Sarah squealed in delight at the sight of them.

“Having them in the shop is way cheaper than a babysitter, especially with three of them. My husband and I usually take turns watching them, but he’s making a delivery, so I’m just keep them close.”

“Aw!” Sarah said. “They’re so cute!”

“Yeah, they are,” Lucy said, smiling down at them fondly. “What was your order, honey?” She asked Ravadhi.

“Oh, um, a tall, black coffee and six of those raspberry danishes, please.”

“You got it,” She said, smiling. “You should come in more often. My husband loves big eaters.”

Ravadhi smiled in spite of himself. “I might.”

“Eating in or taking out?”

“In is fine, we’ve got nowhere to be right now.”

She nodded and as she set to work, the bell above the door jingled and the owner stepped in. The tall, grey-furred rabbitman smiled at them as he closed the door behind him, dressed smartly in a white button-up shirt and black slacks.

“Hi, there,” He said, stepping behind the counter and pecking his wife’s cheek as she whipped up Sarah’s latte.

“Two jellies and six of the danishes, babe,” Lucy said.

“Ooh, big eaters, I love those,” The rabbitman said with a wide smile as he put on an apron, pulled the pastries from the case, and set them on plates. “Would you like these warmed?”

“Oh, yes, that would be great,” Ravadhi said appreciatively. Tumble placed the pastries in a warming over for a few minutes, bending to check on his little ones before pouring Ravadhi’s coffee.

“They’re adorable,” Sarah said, pointing at the babies.

“Aren’t they?” Tumble said with a grin as he passed Ravadhi and Sarah their drinks. “Lia, Tia, and Mia. Not traditional Leporid names, but it rolls right off the tongue, doesn’t it?”

“I’ll totally babysit, if you’re cool with it,” Sarah said. “I won’t charge much, I promise.”

“We might just take you up on that,” Lucy said. “Goodness knows we could use a night out.”

“Yeah, and since Holly probably won’t be able to go back to work for a while, I have to find some way to buy food,” Sarah said without a trace of sarcasm. Ravadhi knew she was completely serious.

Lucy and Tumble’s smiles faltered slightly and they exchanged a curious look between them. Before it could grow too awkward, the warming oven dinged. Tumble pulled the pastries out and laid them on a tray.

“Here you are,” He said, handing Ravadhi the tray. “Enjoy.”

“Thanks,” Ravadhi said, taking the tray to a table. Sarah sat on his other side and sipped her latte.

“I’m not gonna let you starve, Squirt,” Ravadhi said. “I told Sarah I’d look after you, and I meant it.”

“Well, yeah, but what if they arrest you again?”

“They won’t,” He replied, biting into a danish. “They’ve got plenty of evidence against your dad.”

“Not enough, apparently,” Sarah said, wiping jelly from her face. “I heard the cops talking about searching dad’s shed in the backyard later today.”

“For what?”

“Dunno. It’s where dad works on the parts for his truck, where all his tools are. We’re not allowed in there, so it stays locked up.”

“Huh,” Ravadhi said, eating his third danish.

Tumble came up to their table, holding the little girl who was awake, who wiggled and squealed happily against his shoulder. Compared to Tumble, Ravadhi could see that her fur was slightly more brown than grey and she had little tufts of red hair crowning her head between her long ears.

“Might I join you?” He asked.

“Sure,” Ravadhi replied.

“Thank you,” Tumble said as he sat down. “Feels good to get off my feet for a minute.” He held the little one out to Sarah. “Would you like to hold her?”

“Oh, my gosh, would I?” Sarah said, wiping her hands and holding out her arms.

“This one is Tia,” He said. “Be grateful it’s not Lia; she’s become quite the biter recently.”

“Be careful, Squirt,” Ravadhi said.

“I know,” Sarah said in a derisive undertone, holding Tia against her shoulder.

“Lucy mentioned that your sister was in the hospital. I hope it’s nothing serious.”

Ravadhi didn’t know how to respond, but Sarah blurted bluntly, “My dad beat her up. He almost killed her.”

Tumble seemed speechless, his eyes widened in shock. “Dear lord,” He said. “I’m terribly sorry to hear that.”

Sarah shrugged and cooed over the baby. It was rather disconcerting to realize that this was all normal for her.

“How are you two related, may I ask?” Tumble said, looking between Ravadhi and Sarah, clearly noticing the lack of similarity.

“Her sister is my best friend,” Ravadhi said. “We’ve just come from the hospital and are going back after we eat.”

“Ah, I see. Well, Lucy and I were talking about it and we could use a hand in the bakery, when your friend is feeling better,” Tumble said. “So tell her not to worry about a job.”

“That’s incredibly kind of you, sir,” Ravadhi said, taken aback at the sudden generosity.

“Think nothing of it,” He said. “I know what it’s like to feel like you have no one to turn to. We have to look out for each other. I was fortunate enough to find good friends in this town, and I hope we can be that for her, and you as well.”

Ravadhi reached out and shook Tumble’s hand. “I appreciate that very much, and I know she will too. My name’s Ravadhi. This is Sarah.”

“Nice to meet you both,” He said, smiling. He always seemed to be smiling. He reached over to gently collect his baby daughter. “Well, let me get this little one down for a nap and leave you two in peace. We can talk later.”

Before Ravadhi and Sarah left, Lucy gave them a box of gingerbread cookies.

“For your sister, sweetie,” Lucy said. “On the house.”

“Thanks,” Sarah said. “She may not be able to eat them for a while.”

“That’s alright,” Tumble said, putting an arm around Lucy. “Just come back if you need replacements. Feel free to drop by any time. We open at five and close at eleven, but you’re welcome whenever, even if it’s just to talk.”

“Thanks, you guys are the best,” Sarah said. Ravadhi also thanked them and shook their hands one more time before leaving.

That night, Ravadhi bought Sarah dinner and took her home after two more visits with Holly. The nurses said that the breathing tube could be removed soon, barring any complications, and said that she’d be moved to a different ward the next day, so Ravadhi was hoping he’d be able to see her too.

He got home and slumped into bed, now having had five hours of sleep in the last thirty six. He was out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

He was awoken at seven the next morning by his phone ringing.

“Hello?”

“ _Hey, Ravadhi?_ ” He heard a voice say.

“Sarah?” He replied, sitting up. “Everything okay?”

“ _Uh… kind of?_ ”

“What’s up, Squirt? What’s wrong?”

“ _Well, they searched Dad’s shed yesterday and they found something,_ ” She said, anxiousness clear in her voice. “ _I didn’t want to call you because I knew you were tired, so I just--_ ”

“Hey, slow down. Tell me what’s going on. What did they find?”

“ _They found a body._ ”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holly convalesces in the hospital while the investigation into her assault continues. Ravadhi makes a startling confession about his past and invites Holly to stay with him so he can care for her while she's still healing.

“Wait, back up. What do you mean, a body?” Ravadhi said, his stomach in knots.

“ _I don’t know who or why,_ ” She said. “ _I just saw them take an empty body bag into the shed and when they came out, there was something in it._ ”

“Shit,” Ravadhi said under his breath. “Listen, I’ll be over there as soon as I get dressed. Try not to worry about it too much right now, okay? And I don’t think we should tell Holly about it yet, either. Not until we know more. We don’t want to upset her.”

“ _Yeah, okay,_ ” Sarah agreed. “ _Can we get a cinnamon roll on the way?_ ”

Ravadhi chuckled. “Sure, Squirt.”

They stopped at Tumble’s again on the way to the hospital for breakfast, where only Tumble was manning the counter as the girls had their nine month check-ups that day and their other two baristas were both out sick.

“How’s Holly?” He asked.

“They should be moving her out of intensive care today,” Sarah said, sipping her hot chocolate. “She’s gonna be on soft foods for a while because of the damage to her throat.”

“Maybe I can make her a smoothie, then,” Tumble said. “Something light that’s easy to digest and will soothe the throat. A strawberry-mint smoothie might be just the thing.”

“She’d love that!” Sarah said enthusiastically, but Ravadhi put his hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

“Let’s get the okay from the doctors first, kiddo,” He said. “We want to make sure we don’t give her anything that might be bad for her while she’s recovering.”

“Yeah, I suppose,” Sarah said, disappointed.

“When she’s feeling better, then,” Tumble said, handing them their order. They thanked him and promised to come back soon, and headed back to the hospital.

They had moved Holly to a room in a different ward, so Ravadhi was permitted to see her, to his relief. She smiled when she saw them enter the room, looking tired but alert. She was covered in tubes and wires, and the machines around her whirred and beeped. The whites of her eyes, red when he last saw them, were slowly returning to their normal color. She was covered in bruises and angry red marks. Bandages wrapped up the places where the board had split the skin open. The pain she was in must have been immense.

He smiled back gently and stepped close. He didn’t attempt to touch her or hug her, giving her as much space as she needed. Considering what she’d been through, he couldn’t imagine being touched by a man was something she wanted all that much.

“I’m glad to see you,” She said, her voice a raspy croak. “I’m sorry you got arrested.”

“It’s not your fault,” He said. “I was the one speeding.”

She reached out a hand, and he took it. “You saved my life,” She said. “And you protected Sarah. Thank you so much. I’m sorry I got mad at you before.”

“Stop apologizing,” Ravadhi said softly. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I brought you your wallet and your laptop,” Sarah said, holding up a computer bag. “And your hard drive. I downloaded the new season of your favorite show so you’ll have something to watch while you’re in here.”

“Thanks, Sarah,” She said, reaching out to give her sister a careful hug.

“Oh, guess what!” Sarah said. “You know that coffee shop that the rabbitman runs? He said you could have a job there when you’re feeling better.”

“Really?” Sarah said. “Whoa, that’s so nice of him.”

“Yeah, he’s really cool, and his babies are so cute!” She said. “He makes the best donuts, and Lucy, his wife, makes amazing lattes.”

“She does?” Holly said with an indulgent smile. “That’s awesome.”

“I’m gonna babysit for them,” Sarah said proudly.

“Sweet, your first job,” Holly replied, smiling. “Go you, girl. Don’t forget to keep up with your homework, though.”

“I won’t,” Sarah said sullenly.

Ravadhi smiled at them. It did his heart good to see them together interacting without the stress of their father looming over them, even if it was in a hospital. At least, finally, they were safe.

His cell phone rang and he excused himself to the hallway to answer it. It was Song.

“ _Mr. Silversmith, the police would like you to come back to the station to give your DNA sample and witness statement._ ”

“Why do I still need to give a sample? Holly told them who was responsible. Hell, they arrested the bastard,” Ravadhi argued.

“ _I told you that they still considered you a person of interest, despite not having enough evidence to hold you,_ ” He said. “ _They’re following proper procedure. Mr. Stevenson has been… combative and has yet to yield a DNA sample. We’d just like to rule you out definitively. They’d also like permission to search your house._ ”

“What?” Ravadhi said. “Why? Holly’s never been to my house.”

“ _I can tell them you've refused and file injunctions to prevent them from obtaining a warrant, if you like, but that’s only going to make them more suspicious._ ”

“I mean, I don’t have anything to hide,” Ravadhi huffed. “Tell them they can search it, but only if you and I are present. I don’t trust the police in this town.”

“ _That works for me. How soon can you be here?_ ”

Ravadhi sighed in aggravation. “I guess I can come now, I just…” He’d finally gotten to see Holly; he didn’t want to end the visit so soon. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” He sighed. “I’ll see you at the station.”

He pocketed his phone and walked back into the room, “Hey,” he began reluctantly. “The police need me to make a statement, so I have to go in. Will you two be alright here on your own?”

“Yeah,” Holly said. “I got my last paycheck in direct deposit yesterday, and since I won’t be giving most of it to my dad, I’ll be able to buy Sarah lunch. We’ll be okay. You’re coming back, though, right?”

“Of course,” Ravadhi assured her. “This could take a while, but I’ll be back as soon as I can, I promise.”

“Okay,” She said.

Before he left, he helped her set up her laptop on her rolling tray and gave Sarah a leg up so they could sit next to each other on the bed without getting tangled in all the wires.

At the station, it took nearly two hours to give his statement and provide a DNA sample, which included blood, saliva, a tusk scrapping, and hair follicles. Then, he was driven to his house in a squad car and waited as they turned his sparse furnishings upside down, looking for god-knew-what. That took another few hours, during which Ravadhi stood in his kitchen and fumed. This was all a waste of time. Everyone in this godforsaken town knew Stevenson was guilty. Why they were dragging out this farce was inconceivable.

Finally, when it was done and they’d determined there was nothing of interest in Ravadhi’s home, it was late into the day and Ravadhi was anxious to get back to the hospital. Once there, he found that Sarah was gone and Holly was sleeping. He didn’t want to wake her, knowing how much she needed rest, so instead he sat down in the chair next to her, watching her sleep peacefully, until he felt his own eyelids droop. Knitting his fingers together over his chest, he let his head nod and drifted off to sleep.

He woke when he felt a soft touch on his arm. Holly had reached out to wake him. She smiled, a little lopsided because of the swelling to her face.

“Hey,” She said softly.

“Hey,” He responded, sitting up and looking out of the window. It was fully dark out. “Where’s Sarah?”

“She has a math test tomorrow, so I had her go to the ATM in the cafeteria and withdraw some money for the bus and to buy a pizza for dinner,” Holly said. “I’m surprised you’re still here. Don’t you have work and school?”

“I’m taking a few personal days,” Ravadhi replied. “I have to make sure my best friend is okay. That’s my number one priority.”

She smiled again. “Me being your best friend doesn’t count if I’m your only friend,” She said snidely.

“Hey, that’s not true! I have other friends,” He said in mock offense.

“Name one,” She said with a smirk.

“Jim, the guy who got me my job.”

She shook her head. “Doesn’t count. He’s your boss.”

“Well, you just know everything, then, don’t you?” He said, playfully booping her nose. She scrunched it up.

“Not everything,” She said. “You were gone a long time. What all did the police want with you?”

“Ugh,” He groaned. “Those vipers had me jumping through hoops all day, what with the statement and the DNA sample and searching my house. It was like watching paint dry with my eyeball directly over the paint.”

“Why were they searching your house?”

“I’m still considered a person of interest or some shit,” He said offhandedly. “So they’re going through the whole shebang to make them feel like their actually doing something productive, I guess.”

“Why’d they take a DNA sample?” She asked him.

“Oh…” He said, looking away. “To… to compare against the rape kit the hospital did.”

Holly didn’t answer.

“I wanted to be as compliant as possible. Once they rule me out, then they can focus on the son of a bitch who actually did it.”

Holly’s breathing was uneven. He looked up and saw her suck in her bottom lip and bit it in an effort to keep her chin from quivering.

“This isn’t the first time this has happened, is it?” Ravadhi asked in a gentle tone.

Holly’s face crumpled and tears flowed down her cheeks. She hung her head and turned her face away in shame.

“I just wanted to protect Sarah,” She said, her voice a quivering squeak. “I just wanted to protect her.”

Ravadhi scrubbed his face and blew out a breath. “I wish you had told me.”

Holly sniffled. “I didn’t want you to know.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s disgusting!” She said, her fists against her eyes. “Because nothing will make it right! Nothing will make me less disgusting and nasty and… fucking _broken_!”

“You are not any of those things, Holly. He’s the sick and disgusting one, not you. You’re not the things he did to you. You’re so strong.”

“I’m not strong,” She countered. “If I were strong, I’d have been able to stop him.”

“That’s why I wish you’d have told me, I could have stopped him for you.”

“There was nothing you could do.”

“I could have killed him. I’d have been more than happy to do it.”

“Don’t talk like that,” She snapped, looking back at him. “I hate when people say things like that. Don’t tell me you’re happy to hurt someone else. It scares me.”

He bowed his head in reproach “You’re right, I’m sorry. I’m just physically ill at the thought of what that bastard did to you.”

“I don’t feel so great about it, either,” She said in a deadpan tone.

“When did it start?” He asked slowly.

“After Sarah was born,” She said hesitantly. “Well, no, before that, but I fought him. But when Sarah came along, he threatened to hurt her if I didn’t give in. Diane was blitzed out on pills after the c-section, so I knew she wouldn’t do anything to stop him. I’ve been raising Sarah since I was twelve. I had to do whatever it took to keep her safe. And I did.”

Ravadhi didn’t know what to say. He felt like something was squeezing his heart.

“I was starting to get really worried,” Holly admitted, looking over his shoulder and out of the window. “Dad didn’t start messing with me until I hit puberty, and Sarah’s almost at that age. I was getting anxious that he wouldn’t keep his word and I didn’t know what I would do if he didn’t.” She sighed. “I probably would have killed him. Or myself.” She shook her head sadly. “I want to believe it’s really over, but I know it isn’t.”

“How do you mean?” Ravadhi asked.

“They could drop the charges. They could try and pin the blame on you. Even if he does go to trial, I’ll have to testify and see him again. They might not find him guilty. And then I’m right back where I was before. I could leave, but I can’t take Sarah with me because I’m not a parent. It would be kidnapping. I’d be given a longer sentence than him.”

Ravadhi bit his tongue, not wanting to burden her with the news of the body in the backyard just yet. There was no reason to add another concern to her already troubled mind.

“And even if everything went perfect,” She continued, staring but not really seeing. “Even if he’s convicted and went to jail, he’ll still be here.” She pointed at her temple. “I think about it all the time, even when he’s not there. I have waking nightmares and panic attacks without warning. I’m constantly on edge because I always have this feeling like he’s nearby, about to ambush and hurt me, like he did the night you took me home. I’ll never stop being scared of him. I’ll never be able to forget all the things he did to me, or the things Sarah saw. He’ll be in my head forever and I can’t get rid of him.”

“I wish I could say it’ll go away eventually,” Ravadhi blurted. “It took me years to--” He snapped his lips shut and balled his hands into fists, scowling at himself. He hadn’t meant to say that. Shit. It just slipped out.

“Ravadhi…” She whispered, and he looked up. She was looking straight at him, shocked. He let the silence stretch out until it felt like a tangible thing that he could reach out and touch.

Ravadhi heaved a heavy sigh and stared at his feet. “Did… did you know that kids in foster care are statistically more likely to be abused than any other demographic? And nobody reports or does anything about it because CPS doesn’t want people to know it’s happening on their watch. The whole system is corrupt like that. Just like this god-awful town. All these people are accomplices. They all just let it happen, and it’s disgusting.”

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” She said in a soft voice.

He chuckled darkly. “That’s pretty giving, considering I practically begged you to tell me.”

“Even still,” She said. “It’s your story and none of my business. If you want to talk about it, I’m willing to listen, but you don’t have to.”

“I never really have,” He admitted. “Even in prison, when they made us do group therapy, everyone assumed my drug problem was because of my family, and I just didn’t correct that assumption. That was only half of it.”

He glanced up at her, and she watched him with sympathy and no trace of judgement. Of course she’d know exactly how he felt. She must have felt the same anxiety when she confessed to just the domestic abuse. It had been a struggle for her; it was clear to him that she was warring with herself over it. Well, it was only fair to reciprocate.

“When I was fourteen,” He began. “I got popped for heroin possession. The judge was originally going to send me to juvenile detention for sixty days, but instead he recommended this outreach program. It was some kind of reform camp run by a religious organization, but I forget which. I wasn’t really paying all that much attention. I was an angry kid and I didn’t want to get locked up, so I went to the camp.

“It was on this farm out in the country and was a lot like summer camp, almost. We were expected to work on the farm, but we also did normal camping things, like fishing and stuff. It was kinda fun, but at the same time, it reminded me of my family, and it made me crave a fix more than anything. I managed to smuggle some heroin into my bunk and I’d shoot up whenever it got really bad. I hid it pretty well for a while.”

Ravadhi’s shoulders tensed, and he made a visible effort to relax them.

“There was this counselor, Nik, who was extra nice to me. He wasn’t much older than me, maybe nineteen or twenty. It seemed like he was always around me, giving me compliments and encouraging me. I actually really liked him; he seemed like he genuinely wanted to help. He gave me things, like a CD player and a new jacket when I outgrew my old one. He was pretty tall for a human, and fairly strong, and I looked up to him. I’d never had a big brother before, and that’s kind of how I saw him.”

Ravadhi gulped his heart back down and rubbed a shaking hand over his face.

“One night, after I’d been there for about two months, he caught me doing heroin near the creek. He told me he wouldn’t tell anyone what I was doing if I did something for him in return. I was young and I didn’t want to get into trouble and he was bigger than me and I was scared.”

A treacherous tear escaped his eye, and he wiped it away angrily. “I was so sick and disgusted with myself after it was over that I wanted to walk into the creek and drown. I ran away that night. I didn’t take anything with me, I just ran. I went to a different town and started doing drugs all day, just to numb how sick I felt. I didn’t want to feel how much I hated myself or think about what a garbage person I was. I just wanted to sleep.”

“I’m so sorry,” Holly said, reaching out her hand. He took it gingerly.

“I nearly O.D.ed once,” He said. “The guys I was with thought it was an accident, but I did it on purpose. I was hoping I wouldn’t wake up. I was pretty pissed to still be alive when I came to. That was just before I did the pharmacy. I just wanted enough to get the job done, but I got pinched before I had the chance.”

“Can I give you a hug? Is that okay?” Holly said.

Ravadhi was surprised. “Yeah. Is it okay for you?”

She nodded, and he carefully pulled her into a loose, tentative embrace.

“No wonder you were so angry at everyone here,” She said against his shoulder. “I feel like I want to punch that Nik guy in the face. And the throat. And the dick.”

He snorted. “I can’t imagine you doing that, but it’s sweet of you to say.”

She pulled back and looked at his face. “Do you know if he ever got punished? Is he still at that camp?”

“Uh, no,” Ravadhi said. “He’s dead. Another of his victims killed him.”

“Oh, Jesus.”

“Yeah, his name is Dan,” Ravadhi said, helping Holly lay back in the bed. “He got twenty years. I went to his trial three years ago to offer him support. I should have testified for him, but he told me not to. He knows how hard it is to come forward with this kind of stuff.” Ravadhi shrugged self-consciously. “He’s the only person, besides you now, who knows about… you know. I go visit him in prison every so often. He’s got no one else and I know what that’s like.”

Holly grimaced. “I hate that it happened to you, but I’m glad you trust me enough to tell me,” She said. “I know it was hard. And I promise I won’t tell anyone else unless you want me to.”

“I appreciate that,” Ravadhi replied with a strained smile, now feeling a little guilty about hiding the news about the body.

There was a knock at the door and a nurse stepped inside to check Holly’s vitals.

“Visiting hours were over twenty-three minutes ago,” She told Ravadhi sternly. “You must have missed the announcement.”

“I fell asleep,” He admitted ruefully. He took Holly’s hand a gave it a squeeze as he stood. “I’ll be back tomorrow, I promise.”

She smiled at him, looking tired again. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

The next day, Ravadhi was finally able to get his truck out of police impound and return the rental. Afterward, he was back at the hospital.

Holly was looking brighter today, and she was able to get up and walk the hallway a bit, reassuring both the nurses and Ravadhi that her injuries were healing well. The doctor had given the okay for her to have a smoothie, and Tumble had insisted on delivering it himself.

“Miss Stevenson?” He asked when he came in.

“Yes, are you Mr. Broadfoot? Sarah told me about you. It’s very nice to meet you,” Holly said with a smile.

“And you, Miss, but please, call me Tumble.” He sat her smoothie down on her rolling table and a card with his number next to it. “You sister told me you’ll be needing a job when you get back on your feet. I can use an assistant in the bakery, if you’ve a mind to it.”

“Thank you, sir,” Holly said, holding the card to her heart. “You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“I think I do,” He said with a smile. “When I first moved to town, not many people were happy about it. I met my wife not long afterward, and we faced a fair amount of prejudice. It felt as if she were the only friend I had in the world. My wife and I were not aware of your situation, but it seems many other people in this town were and did nothing, and I find that reprehensible. Rest assured, you will always have friends and and allies in us.”

Tears fell from Holly’s eyes, and she brushed them away, though she was smiling. “Thank you,” She whispered. “I’m so grateful.”

Tumble smiled kindly. “Please, try your smoothie. The mint and chill should help ease your throat.”

Holly sat up and winced a little as she reached out, grabbing the cup and pulling it toward her, and took a sip. She closed her eyes and hummed in satisfaction.

“It’s so good,” Holly said, taking a second enthusiastic sip.

“I’m glad you like it,” Tumble said, pleased. “I should get back to the cafe; the lunch rush will be hitting soon. Please feel free to call any time, Miss. My wife and I will always be happy to hear from you and your sister.” He reached out and shook Ravadhi’s hand. “You too, my friend.”

“I appreciate it, brother,” Ravadhi replied.

Tumble left and Holly’s doctor came in, looking at her chart briefly before addressing her.

“How are we feeling today, Ms. Stevenson?” She asked.

“Better,” She said. “I can walk down the hallway on my own now.”

“Good, good,” She said, checking her vitals and reflexes. “Well, I’ve got good news for you. We’ll be releasing you at the end of the week.” She scrutinized Holly and said bluntly, “I would recommend you don’t go back to that house. I don’t want to find you back in here in a few weeks.”

Holly gulped and looked at Ravadhi in a panic. “I can’t go back,” She said in a frantic whisper. “What if he gets out? He’ll kill me. He’ll kill Sarah. A restraining order isn’t going to stop him.”

“You can stay with me,” Ravadhi said, raising a calming hand. “I’ve got my own place. It’s got several bedrooms, you can take your pick.”

“I couldn’t impose like that,” Holly said in a small voice, but even she knew she didn't have many options.

“It’s not an imposition. You’re my friend. I can’t let you go back to that place. I can protect you at my house. It can just be until you get on your feet and find your own place, if you want. But don’t go back to that house. I’m begging you.”

Holly’s lip quivered and she nodded. “Thank you.”

“You’re my best friend, Holly,” Ravadhi said gently. “I’d do anything for you.”

“Well, if that’s settled, let’s check your bandages, okay?” The doctor said, jerking her chin at Ravadhi. “Could you step out, please?”

“Sure,” Ravadhi replied, going out to the hall.

Later, Ravadhi went to pick Sarah up from school and took her to visit Holly in the hospital. Holly praised Sarah’s high test scores and they visited for a while before Ravadhi and Sarah ate some burritos in the cafeteria and Ravadhi took Sarah home.

“Hey, Squirt, can you help me with something?” He asked as they pulled up outside.

“Sure, what’s up?” Sarah asked.

“Holly’s gonna come stay with me once she gets out of the hospital,” Ravadhi said carefully, gauging Sarah’s reaction, worried she’d be upset.

“Oh, good,” Sarah said, unperturbed. “What do you need my help with?”

“I was going to get her stuff from your house and bring it to mine so that it would be there when she got out of the hospital,” He replied, relieved. “I want it to be a surprise. Can you help me pack up her things and load them into my truck?”

“Oh, yeah,” Sarah agreed. “Come on in.”

Sarah led Ravadhi into the house, where her mother was sleeping on the couch, and toward Holly’s room. Sarah began taking Holly’s clothes from the closet and packing them into bags while Ravadhi hauled her desk and vanity table to the truck. He returned and picked up her book case without removing the books and took it out as well, leaving Sarah staring wide-eyed after him. Sarah was packing Holly’s knick knacks and keepsakes in a box when Ravadhi started to reach for the bed frame and mattresses.

“I don’t think she’s going to want that,” Sarah said, her voice carefully neutral.

“Why?” Ravadhi asked.

Sarah gave him a meaningful look, and stared at the huge, brown bloodstain on the ground right next to it, a square of which had been cut out, likely for evidence. 

“Oh,” Ravadhi replied. Looking around, Ravadhi noticed smaller droplets of browned blood everywhere, on the furniture, the walls, the ceiling. He found himself growing more uncomfortable by the second. He left the bed alone and went to take her dresser and night table out instead. Once everything was packed, Ravadhi thanked Sarah for her help, covered everything in a tarp and strapped it down, and took the load to his house.

It was a two story Victorian style house with peeling, faded brick red paint, set back away from the main road with an overgrown front yard and a large backyard fenced in with tall metal chain links. The front door opened to a small hallway, with the laundry room and dining room on either side, with the kitchen just beyond. The kitchen had only a folding table and a single chair; the dining room was currently being used as a storage area.

At the end of the hall was the living room that had just a couch and a T.V. on a stand. There was a bedroom on either side of the living room, and staircase on the right side, leading to the unused second story. The T.V. was in front of a line of large windows, covered in panel shades, and a sliding glass door that lead out to a long, closed-in back porch.

He put all of the furniture into his master bedroom, which was the only one with a bed in it and had an attached bathroom so that she would have privacy. His meager belongings were moved into a bedroom on the other side of the living room. Once he got all of her belongings into the house, cleaned and set up, he went to a department store and bought a futon bed, a thicker bed cushion, a new bedding set for Holly, and another table chair.

A few days later, Holly was released from the hospital, and Ravadhi, having gone back to work, took his lunch break to pick her up and take her back to his house. When she saw all her things already in the master bedroom, she began to cry.

“This is so nice,” She sobbed. “I want to give you a hug, but… I… can’t…” She shook her head in distress, crossing her arms around her waist.

“It’s okay, Holly. Don’t push yourself,” Ravadhi said understandingly. “Welcome home.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holly starts growing accustomed to living with Ravadhi and tries to come to terms with her past while healing.

He was due back at work soon, so he gave her a cursory tour of the house, showing her where everything was and writing his numbers by the phone so she could call if there was an emergency. She really needed to get a cell phone. There was a rule against them at home, but she doubted Ravadhi would have any such rules.

“This was my parent’s house,” He said. “It was supposed to go to my sister, but since I was the only kid left, it defaulted to me. The bank took charge of it until I got back to town, but they didn’t keep up with it well. People broke in and gutted the place, and I had to chase out a bunch of squatters when I first got here. It took me three months to get the lower floor even partly livable. I spent days cleaning and replacing all the wiring and appliances. I haven’t even started on the second floor, so if you go up there, be careful. I had to dip into my college money to get everything fixed. That’s why I took the third job.”

“You have three jobs _and_ go to school?” She asked in amazement. “When do you sleep?”

He laughed. “I’m a night guard at the power plant on the edge of town on the weekends in addition to the auto shop and plumbing job.”

“Jesus, Vadhi, You’re going to kill yourself!” Holly said, genuinely worried for his health.

“Aw, you called me Vadhi,” He said with a smile. “Don’t worry about me, I’m a goer. Unless I’m playing a game, I don’t like sitting still. Working suits me.”

“Workaholic, huh?” She said. “I guess you won’t be home much, then.”

He eyed her. “Does that bother you?”

She shrugged and didn’t meet his eye.

“Help yourself to anything in the house,” He continued. “I haven’t gone grocery shopping in a while, so pickings might be slim, but I’ll bring dinner home. I usually eat take out, since I’m not a very good cook, not that I have the time to cook anyways. I’ve got internet and cable, and the TV is hooked up to my gaming consoles and my PC, so if you want to watch something or play a game, go for it. You just have to change the source.”

A lot of that flew over Holly’s head. “We only ever had the basic channels on a 90’s TV. The only time I could use the internet was at the library. We had some internet at the house because Sarah had figured out the neighbor’s password, but I didn’t like using it. It felt like stealing”

“I can show it all to you when I get back,” He said. “But you should try and get some rest. In fact, why don’t you lie down and take a nap?”

“I might,” She said, rubbing her eyes. “Just the trip from the hospital here wiped me out.”

“Sleep,” He said, picking up his keys. “I’ll lock up when I leave. It’ll be a short day, since it’s Friday, so I’ll be home with dinner around five.”

Home. This was home now.

After taking a two hour nap, Holly got up and took a better look at her surroundings. It was a far bigger house than the one she grew up in, sparse but clean. The bed and the couch looked really comfortable, and the kitchen was small but open and looked like it had never been used. She went upstairs and saw much of it was in disrepair and dirty. There was still evidence that it had been squatted in for some time, like tattered sleeping bags and plastic grocery bags with half-used toiletries in it. She wondered if she couldn’t help Ravadhi clean up this level when she was stronger.

Holly was actually very pleased with the look of the house, despite how scantly it was furnished. It was tidy and bright and the big windows allowed in plenty of sunlight. The half-finished repairs gave it a built-from-the-ground-up feel that Holly found comforting. What’s more, there were no bad memories here. There was nothing she could look at that would drudge up a flashback to a horrible thing she’d endured. Ravadhi had even gone to the lengths of scrubbing and repainting her furniture, so they looked like they were brand new. It was like a clean slate, a fresh start.

She went to the kitchen to look for a snack, only to find jars of condiments and not much else. There was a half eaten bag of corn chips on top of the fridge, a box of stuffing mix in the cabinets, but no butter.

Thankfully, she heard the key turn the lock, and Ravadhi walked in with bags of Chinese take out and Sarah in tow.

“Hey, Holly,” Sarah said, giving Holly a hug.

“Hey!” Holly said with a smile. “Did you come by to have dinner with us?”

“Uh-huh,” She said, helping to pull the boxes out of the plastic bags. “I went with Ravadhi to the Chinese food place and helped him pick out all the stuff you like.”

“Aw, you guys spoil me.” She pulled plates from the cabinet and silverware from a drawer and they all sat down to dinner.

“I’m spending the weekend, too,” Sarah said, pointing at her school bag. “Ravadhi’s worried about you being here all by yourself while your healing.”

“What does your mom have to say about that?” Holly asked.

“I didn’t ask,” Holly said. “It’s not like she’ll care, anyway. She’ll probably be unconscious the entire time.”

“You should at least call and tell her where you are,” Holly said sternly. “Ravadhi’s already been arrested once, he doesn’t need to go to jail again because your mom thinks he kidnapped you.”

“Alright, alright,” Sarah said, shoveling fried rice into her mouth.

After dinner, Ravadhi showed them how to used the TV and game consoles, and went to bed. Sarah immediately got sucked into a game called Skyrim. Holly was content to watch her play as something called a Khajit, shooting down dragons and forging knives out of iron.

Ravadhi re-emerged from his room that evening at nine, dressed in a security guard’s uniform that barely fit him.

“You girls doing okay?”

“I think Sarah lives here now,” Holly said.

Ravadhi barked a laugh, but he looked at Holly with a sharp eye. “How are you feeling? Pain?”

Holly shook her head. “I’ve been taking my meds, I’m okay.”

“Okay,” He said, picking up his jacket. “Keep an eye on her for me, Sarah.”

“Yeah,” Sarah said, in the middle of fighting a draugr horde and not looking up.

“I get off at seven. I’ll bring home breakfast.”

With that, he was out the door.

“I think we should do something nice for Ravadhi,” Holly said as Sarah looted the bodies of the undead she just rekilled. “He’s really stuck his neck out for me and I feel like all I’m doing is taking from him and not giving anything back. He already had enough problems before he met me.”

“What do you want to do?” Sarah asked.

“Well, I still have a good bit left from my last paycheck from the library, and Ravadhi has nothing in his kitchen. He must spend a small fortune in fast food every week. I should buy him groceries and cook for him. Since I’m basically staying here for free until I’m well enough to work, I figure the least I could do is cook meals.”

“Ooh! Can we do steak and potatoes for dinner tomorrow, then? We haven’t had that in a while.”

Holly snickered. “You’re such a carnivore.”

They went to bed soon after, as Holly still grew tired easily, but they woke up the next morning with Ravadhi knocking on their door, announcing breakfast has arrived.

“I’ll leave you guys some money for lunch before I go to bed,” he said over waffles.

“Don’t worry about that, Vadhi,” Holly replied. “We can take care of that.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, we can feed ourselves, you don’t have to worry about us,” Sarah said, gnawing on a piece of ham.

“Alright, if you say so.”

Ravadhi went to bed when breakfast was done, and Holly and Sarah called a cab soon after. They made it to the grocery store, and while Holly had covered her bruises in a long sleeve shirt and pulled her hair forward to hide her face, she could still feel people staring at her and it was making her anxious. She stocked up on meat, vegetables, and pasta, as well as some snacks for the house. She also threw a few boxes of cake mix into the cart.

“Sarah?” A voice called to their right. It was a short, red-haired woman holding a hand basket and looking through the fruit.

“Oh, hi, Lucy,” Sarah said, taking Holly’s hand and leading her over. “Holly, this is Lucy, she’s got the rabbit babies I’m going to babysit.”

“Sarah, that’s rude,” Holly hissed.

Lucy laughed. “No, it’s okay. So you’re Holly, huh? I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.” She stuck out a hand, which Holly took.

“Nice to meet you,” Holly said, trying to smile and hide behind her hair at the same time. Whether Lucy took notice, she didn’t comment. “I’ve been in your shop before. Your husband makes the best croissants.”

“He does, doesn’t he?” She smirked. “The little shit. Always upstaging me.”

“Yeah, but you birthed three kids naturally. He’ll never be able to do that,” Holly pointed out.

Lucy nodded proudly. “Yes, I did.” She laughed. “Speaking of which, I should get back soon. Those three run all over him, he just can’t say no to them, the softy. It was good to see you two.”

Holly and Sarah bid Lucy farewell, then went to check out.

It was noon by the time the girls got back to Ravadhi’s house, so they put their groceries away and made sandwiches for lunch. Sarah went back to the video game as Holly began to marinade the steaks and look for the tools she needed to make dinner.

Ravadhi emerged from his room at four and blearily walked into the bathroom that was under the staircase. They could hear the shower turn on. Holly had just finished the cake and was putting the baked potatoes in the oven.

Ravadhi came back out of the bathroom, toweling his royal blue hair, though more of the underlying brown was showing through with each wash, and he sniffed the air.

“Hey, how do you like your steak?” Holly asked him.

“Steak?” He asked, coming into the kitchen. “Are you cooking?”

“Yep,” She said, smiling. “We went into town and bought groceries. How do you like your steak?”

“Medium rare,” He said, flabbergasted. “You didn’t have to do this, Holly. I don’t mind feeding you.”

“Vadhi, you spend way too much money on fast food; the amount I spent on food for a month is the same you spend in a week. Aren’t you sick of burgers and pizza?”

“Well, kind of,” He admitted. “But you’re still healing, you shouldn’t exert yourself like this until you’re better.”

“I’m not exerting myself,” She insisted. “And I’ll take a nap after dinner.”

He huffed. “Well… can I help?”

“Go sit with Sarah and take the controller away. She’s been playing nonstop for hours,” She said, pushing playfully at his shoulder. “If you’re going to be taking care of me, the least I can do is take care of you back. This is something I’m good at.”

He smiled shyly. “Okay.”

Ravadhi fired up a game called Rocket League and both he and Sarah competed against some people online, whooping them soundly. They made a good team.

Around five thirty, Holly took the potatoes out of the oven and shucked them out of the skins, mashing them up with butter and cream, then put them in a pan with cheese and chives and put them back in the oven. Then she started searing the steaks and putting the salad together.

“Oh, my god, it smells amazing in here,” Ravadhi said, demolishing another player’s car.

Holly laughed. Ravadhi paused and set his controller down, making Sarah grunt in annoyance, and he came into the kitchen.

“What all did you make?” He asked, looking at the steaks and salad.

“I made a cress and arugula salad with feta and walnuts, twice baked mashed potatoes with chives, and ribeye steak seared in butter and topped with caramelized onions. Oh, and a chocolate cake with caramel buttercream icing and sliced strawberries in the middle for dessert.”

Ravadhi stood there, gaping and speechless. “I think I might cry,” he said when he got his voice back.

“Why?” Holly said, giggling.

“Because I haven’t had a homecooked meal this good in years. I really want to hug you right now, but I’ll resist the urge.”

“You can give me a hug,” Holly said diffidently.

“Are you sure?” He asked. When she nodded, he drew her into a gentle hug, careful not to squeeze too tight. She cautiously put her arms around his waist. She wasn’t used to hugging someone so tall.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” he whispered in her ear. “The house feels… alive again, with you here.”

She blushed, and felt the same flutter in her chest she’d felt the first time she’d seen that big smile on his face after they’d ridden the bus together. When they parted, Holly turned to find Sarah leaning over the back of the couch, staring at them with a smug grin on her face.

Holly coughed and started pulling down plates. “It’s about ready, so go wash up, Sarah.”

Sarah rolled her eyes and disappeared into the bathroom as Ravadhi helped Holly set the table.

Dinner was amazing, but Holly’s cooking tended to be. Ravadhi seemed to waver back and forth between trying to savor it but also wanting to wolf it down as fast as possible. By the time she put down a fat slice of cake in front of him, his eyes were glazed over.

“I haven’t eaten this good in such a long time,” He said, scrapping the crumbs off of the plate. “This was incredible, Holly, thank you so much.”

“Get used to it,” Holly said as she pulled his plate away to stop him from licking it. “It’s gonna be like this as long as I’m living here. I’m gonna make you fat.”

“Then I will be fat and happy,” He said with a grin.

“Show him the thing,” Sarah said, bouncing in her chair.

“What thing?” Ravadhi asked in confusion.

Holly pulled a tall lunch bag off of the counter, silver in color, that had a lot of zippers and pockets. “I had some money left over after buying the groceries, so I got you a nice lunch box to take leftovers to work in. It’s insulated and it’s got special pockets for chill packs to keep your drinks cold that won’t make the other food cold. I made an extra steak for you to take to work with you tonight.”

Ravadhi looked like he might actually cry. “Holly, you… you really don’t have to do stuff like this for me.”

“Dude, you’re letting me live in your house rent free. You got arrested for me. Buying you a lunch box and making you dinner is not that big a deal.”

“It is to me,” He said solemnly. “No one’s…” He stopped and chewed on his lip.

“No one’s what?” Holly asked, but he shook his head and elaborate.

“Welp,” Sarah said, slapping the table and breaking the tension. “I have scrublords to blow up.” She got up from the table and scuttled back to the couch, picking up her controller.

Ravadhi helped Holly with the dishes, which they did in silence, but as they passed the dishes back and forth between them, they’d glance at each other and smile. It was weird and made Holly a little anxious, but it was also nice at the same time.

He still had a few hours before work, and since the couch was plenty big enough for all three of them, he grabbed his school work and sat on one side, balancing his notebook on the arm of the couch. Holly sat on the other arm and Sarah was smack in the middle between the two, happily slaughtering vampires.

A peaceful kind of quiet descended over them, without expectation or worry. Holly wasn’t used to it and it made her feel strange. She almost wished for the horrible, silent, constant dread of her house before, just because it was familiar.

Eventually Ravadhi got ready for work and left, taking his new lunchbox, which Holly had loaded down with treats, and thanking her again profusely. She smiled. It was a small thing to do to repay him for his kindness, but at least it was something he appreciated.

“Do you like Ravadhi?” Sarah asked Holly as they were getting ready for bed that evening.

“Well, yeah, of course I do,” She said around her toothbrush. “He’s my friend, why wouldn’t I like him?”

Sarah sighed in disgust. “God, you’re dense, no, I mean do you _like_ him? Are you _into_ him?”

Holly pulled the toothbrush from her mouth and swallowed. “It’s not that simple.”

“Why not? Ravadhi’s nice and I think he likes you.”

“I-I can’t…” Holly stuttered. “It’s… hard for me.”

“Because of what Dad did?” Sarah asked.

“Yeah,” Holly said in a small voice. “Because of what Dad did.”

“I don’t think Ravadhi would ever do anything bad to you,” Sarah said neutrally.

“I know,” Holly replied, washing out her mouth. “He’s a really good guy. But it’s hard to stop being scared.”

Sarah set her hairbrush down and frowned. "Are you... always scared?"

Holly tried to smile and put a hand on Sarah's shoulder. "Don't worry about me, Sarah."

" _Are_ you?" Sarah pressed, looking up at her with wide eyes.

Holly sighed. "Yes. I'm always scared."

Sarah hugged Holly around the waist and sobbed. “I’m sorry,” She said, her voice wavering.

“Why are you sorry?” Holly asked, putting her arms around Sarah’s shoulders.

“Dad did all those bad things to you because of me,” She said, sniffling. Sarah had never directly talked about it before, and it took Holly by surprise. “If it weren’t for me, you could have left forever ago. It’s my fault he almost killed you.”

“No, it isn’t,” Holly said sternly. “Dad has been doing bad things to people long before you were ever born. He did bad things to my mom, he did bad things to your mom. He’s just an awful person who likes hurting people. None of that is your fault.”

“He’s never done any bad things to me, because you were protecting me. You shouldn’t have had to do that,” Sarah sobbed.

“You’re right,” Holly said. “But that’s not your burden to bear. Dad should have been a better father to both of us or he should never have had kids to begin with. You’re not the problem, Sarah, he is. You didn’t do anything wrong.” Holly hugged her sister close. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Sarah cried into Holly’s pajama top. Holly held her sister for a while until she hiccuped to a stop, then they both got into the large bed.

“I still think you should go out with Ravadhi,” Sarah said after she recovered. “Dad’s in jail now. He can’t stop you.”

Holly sighed. “I’ll think about it, if only to shut you up. Now go to sleep and stop bugging me about it.”

Sarah giggled and goosed Holly in the side. “Fine.”

The next morning, Holly got up at six-thirty and called Ravadhi to tell him not to bring breakfast home, that she had it covered. He chuckled over the phone but assented. Then she got up and started eggs and bacon, letting Sarah sleep a while longer.

When he got home and opened the door, Ravadhi stopped and just inhaled.

“I could get used to this,” He said dreamily.

Holly laughed. “Well, enjoy it now. When I get a job, you might still have to eat at least one meal out.”

“I can live with that,” He said, looking over her shoulder and gasping. “Omelets, bacon, pancakes, _and_ homemade hashbrowns? You are my favorite person _ever_.”

She smiled, pleased with herself. “How was work?”

“Boring, like it always is. At least it’s only two days a week.”

“You have tonight free?” She asked.

“Yep,” He said, trying to sneak a piece of bacon. “It’s the only time I get to myself. I usually use the day to work on the house or catch up on homework.”

“Aren’t you tired?”

“Yeah, but I can take a two hour nap and be good. I don’t want to sleep too much on Sundays while it’s light out since I have to get up early on Mondays.”

“I’m sorry me and Sarah are cramping your me-time, then,” Holly said apologetically.

“No, I’m actually glad to have you guys here. To be honest, I kind of hate being alone all the time.”

Holly felt a swell of sadness for Ravadhi. He had been alone for years, and considering the speciesism in this town and the fact that he was an ex-con, she imagined it was hard for him to make friends.

Sarah woke up then and came out of the master bedroom, rubbing her eyes and sniffing.

“Pancakes?” She asked sleepily.

“Yep.”

“Chocolate chip?”

“Yep.”

“Sweet.”

They sat down and ate breakfast, talking casually. Holly watched Ravadhi joke with Sarah and felt at ease. The warmth between the three of them was effortless and felt like a blanket. Soothing and comfortable.

Was… was this what family was supposed to feel like? Holly could only remember what it had felt like with her mother, but those memories were faded and marred by the things that happened after she was gone. It felt nice and unsettling at the same time, and it was hard for Holly to sort through the emotions.

Sarah sighed. “I should go home after breakfast,” She said reluctantly. “I have homework and I need to check on Mom, make sure she’s actually eaten something in the last three days.” She looked at Ravadhi hopefully. “Can I come back next weekend?”

“Of course, Squirt,” He said. “You can borrow my truck to take her, if you like. I’ll take a nap while you’re gone.”

“Sounds good to me,” Holly turned to Sarah. “Do you mind if I drop you at the door? I really don’t want to go back inside the house.”

“That’s fine,” Sarah said.

“And you’ll call me every day to let me know you’re okay, right?” Holly insisted.

“Yes, I will, I promise,” Sarah replied.

“Okay,” She said. “We’ll go after we wash the dishes.”

Ravadhi handed her the keys to the truck with a caution that it listed to the left a little bit and to watch out for that. Holly helped Sarah climb in and then vaulted up into the driver’s seat, and they set off.

When Holly returned back to Ravadhi’s house, there was a strange, sleek car in the yard that she didn’t recognize. Opening the door, she found a cheetah rakshasa and a satyr standing in the kitchen with Ravadhi, who had a grim look on his face.

“Miss Stevenson?” the rakshasa asked.

“Yes, that’s me,” Holly replied.

“Ma’am, my name is Agent Tobin Freemont. I’m with the Non-Human Hate Crimes Division, and my associate is Terrib Song; he’s a civil rights attorney. Do you have a moment to talk? There’s something we need to discuss with you.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holly learns about the body on her dad's property. Also, DATE NIGHT!

“Well, I do have a bit of good news, before we get started,” Freemont said. “Mr. Silversmith is no longer a person of interest in your assault and is officially cleared of any wrongdoing. The local sheriff’s department is also waiving the evading arrest and reckless driving charges due to the urgency of the situation.”

“That’s a relief,” Holly said, looking at Ravadhi and smiling. He tried to return the smile, but was unable to, and it worried her.

“Well, don’t relax just yet.” Freemont took a seat at the table and motioned for Holly to do the same. “I had a conversation with your father and he told me your mother left town many years ago. You were eight, correct?”

“Y…yes,” Holly said, confused. “Why are you asking about her?” Her face lit. “Did you find her? Is she coming back?”

“We’ll get to that,” Freemont deflected. “What can you remember from the day she left?”

“Um…” Holly thought hard, trying to pull the memory back from the depths of her mind, buried under mountains of repression. “Well, we were sitting at breakfast, and I was upset about something. I can’t for the life of me remember what I was so worked up about now. I was making a fuss, crying and whining, and Dad just… hauled off and hit me. My mom had this deal with my dad: she’d never leave him as long as he never laid a hand on me. It was the first time he’d broken the deal.”

“How did you’re mother react?”

“She just went ape-shit. She hit him, bit him, threw stuff at him. She told me to go to my room and pack a bag because we were leaving, and she and my dad started fighting. Not just arguing, it was a knock-down, drag-out fight, trading blows and screaming at each other. I’d seen him hit her before, but she’d never fought back like that. I was scared, so I locked myself in my room and hid in my closet. Eventually, I fell asleep, and when I woke up, the house was quiet. Mom and Dad were gone, and Mom’s suitcase and makeup bag were gone, too.”

“Where did they go?” Freemont asked.

“When Dad got back, he told me that he’d taken her to the airport. They’d made a new deal. He said he let her leave, but that she’d have to go far away and that I couldn’t go with her. He was going to keep me to make sure she never told the police or tried to have him arrested. I was basically a hostage to ensure her cooperation.”

“Did you hear from her again after that?”

“Yes,” Holly said, standing up abruptly and going into her room. She pulled the letter she’d gotten, the paper tattered and yellow with age, and presented it to Freemont. “She sent me this after a few weeks. She said she was going to come back for me, but I haven’t heard from her since.”

Freemont read the letter quickly. “Would it be alright if I borrow this for a little while?”

Holly’s heart lurched as she handed it over. “Uh… sure.”

Freemont took an evidence bag from his jacket pocket and sealed the letter inside.

“So…” She said, looking between the three men in apprehension. “What this all about?”

Mr. Song stepped forward and cleared his throat. “I don’t know if you were aware of this, Ms. Stevenson, but the skeletal remains of a young woman were found over a week ago on your father’s property, under the shed.”

She looked at Ravadhi in horror, and he failed to meet her gaze.

“Is it my mom?” Holly asked in a small voice.

“We’re not sure yet,” Freemont replied. “We’ve got her old x-rays and dental records for comparison, but as there is a significant amount of damage to the bones, it’s difficult to be certain.”

“How do you find out for certain?” Holly asked.

“We would need to take some DNA from you to get a partial match,” Terrib said. “You were her only living family, as far as we can tell, so a match above thirty eight percent would be conclusive.”

“The local police department still has some of your blood and tissue samples on file that was taken into evidence after your assault,” Freemont stated. “We can use that rather than have you go all the way back to the hospital for new samples. We just need your written consent to do so.” He held out a form for her to sign. Holly took it and signed her name numbly.

“How did she die?” Holly asked.

“I’m afraid we can’t divulge--”

“She was beaten to death, wasn’t she?”

Song and Freemont exchanged a meaningful glance, but didn’t respond. Freemont took the form and stood.

“We’ll be able to give you more answers once we’ve run the DNA,” He said. “There isn’t a forensics lab in this town, so we’re going to have to send it off to get it done. It may be a few weeks before we get a definitive answer.”

“It’s her,” Holly muttered, dejected. “Who else would it be?”

Freemont reached to put his hand on Holly’s shoulder, but Ravadhi, who was standing behind her, shook his head, and he backed off.

“We’ll be in touch, Ms. Stevenson,” Freemont said. Then both he and Song took their leave.

Ravadhi sat in the chair Freemont had occupied. “Are you okay?”

Holly stared at a speck on the table and didn’t look up. “I think I always suspected,” She said. “My mom loved me. She would have come back for me if she were able. I knew she wasn’t coming back, but I didn’t want to accept it. The hope that she would come and take me away eventually was all that kept me going sometimes. If I had known she was dead all these years, I’d have killed myself a long time ago.”

“Don’t say that,” Ravadhi said gently. His hand clenched and unclenched as though he wanted to reach out, but he knew her well enough to know that touch wouldn’t be a comfort to her in this situation. It might be a long time before she would find the touch of another person comforting.

Holly’s eyes stung. “I need to lie down,” She said, standing and stumbling to her room. She disappeared inside, leaving Ravadhi feeling powerless.

He went to the closed door, laying his forehead and the palms of his hands against it and listening to her sob loudly, wishing he could do something, _anything_ to help her and knowing there was nothing. He couldn’t bring her mother back. He couldn’t undo all the damage her father did. All he could do was be there when she needed him and be as good a friend to her as he was able, but he didn’t even know if that’s what she wanted. All he could do was be present and wait.

She reemerged a few hours later, here eyes puffy and red from crying.

“Hey,” He said softly from where he stood at the stove.

“Hey,” She replied, her eyebrows knitting together. “Are you… cooking?”

“Yeah, I made lunch,” He said. “The only think I can cook without burning is grilled cheese and tomato soup from a can.”

She gave him a weak smile. “Thanks. This is nice.”

He sat a plate and a bowl in front of her, and though she wasn’t all that hungry, she took a few bites.

“I know it’s probably stupid to ask, but are you alright?” He asked.

Holly sighed. “I think so. I did a lot of thinking while I was in there. I’ve spent my whole life waiting for things to happen, too scared to do anything for myself. Waiting for my Mom to come back, waiting for Sarah to get old enough to leave so that I could, too. Waiting for Dad to kill me.” Her eyes were dark. “I’m tired of waiting for things to happen to me. I’m tired of feeling powerless. I want more. I want everything my dad took away from me. I want a life.”

“You deserve a life,” Ravadhi said. “You deserve to be happy and well and not scared all the time.”

“Do you…” Holly started slowly. “Do you remember a few months ago when you asked me out?”

He froze, his eyes widening in shock. “Yes, I remember.”

“Does that offer still stand?”

His mouth opened and closed several times, but no sound came out. He hadn’t even hoped for this.

“Just to be clear,” She said, looking him in the face to make sure he was listening. “I don’t know when I’ll ever be ready to…be… I don’t know if I’ll ever be comfortable with…sex…” She lowered her gaze and shifted uncomfortably. “But I like you a lot. You’ve been an amazing friend and I want to do something for you that shows you how much I appreciate how much you’ve done for me.”

Ravadhi sighed, saddened. “Holly, you don’t own me a date because I’ve been taking care of you.”

“That’s not what I mean,” She said. “When you first asked me to dinner, I _wanted_ to say yes, but I couldn’t. I… wasn’t allowed. I wasn’t even allowed to have a _friend_ who was male. Just talking to you outside of a professional setting was a huge risk. But… I like you, I have since we met, but I was scared to death what my father would do if he found out about you. I knew he’d kill me, and that’s exactly what he tried to do.”

She sighed and sat back in her chair, picking at a nick in the table. “I’m tired of my dad dictating what I can and can’t do, even now that he’s not here. I want to go on a date with you. I want it to be the first step in a new life that I live for myself. Unless you don’t want to anymore, which… I understand if that’s the case.” She looked away, her eyes sad and hollow.

“No! No, it’s not that at all!” He assured her. “I… I would love to take you out to dinner, or whatever you wanted, I just… it’s very soon after… and you’re still healing. Are you sure you want to go out on a date with me right now?”

“You have to understand,” She said, scratching her upper arm almost absentmindedly, her shoulders hunched defensively. “The things my dad has done… is normal to me. As sick as it is, it’s normal. I want a new normal. I want to build a new normal for myself, and I’d like you to be there when I do, if you want to be.”

A gentle smile spread across his face. “I would love nothing more.” He laughed nervously and ran a hair through the fading blue of his hair. “I need to think of something really good. I want your first date to be special.”

“You don’t have to do anything grand,” Holly said. “A movie would be enough for me.”

“Nope, not good enough,” He replied with a wide grin. “I want to give you everything you’ve been missing out on. I’m going to wow you, because you deserve to be wowed.”

A shy smile split her face. “If you insist.”

“I like that smile,” He said, his wide grin fixed in place. “I hope I get to see it more often.”

Her smile widened involuntarily, and she hid it behind her hand.

They decided to wait until all the injuries had healed well and she didn’t get tired as easily anymore. Also, he said, it would take time to set up the perfect date. He wanted it to be something out of a dream, but since Holly had no idea what to do on a date, he was forced to ask Sarah for help. As she was ten, her ideas were a little juvenile, but it did help give Ravadhi a frame of reference.

Holly was nothing but nerves in the days up to the date, using the very last of her money to buy a decent dress from a thrift store, as she didn’t own any dresses, let alone one nice enough for a date. It was royal blue, like his hair had been before it began to fade, knee length and slightly flared. It had a three quarter sleeve and a high neck with a keyhole slit down the middle of her clavicle. It covered most of her scars and made her feel more feminine than she ever had.

She also called Lucy and begged her for help with makeup and styling her hair, as she had no experience with either of those things in any other capacity beyond hiding injuries. Lucy was beside herself to help, insisting Holly come by the house so they could experiment with styles.

Sarah was also there, as she had started watching the babies, who Holly admitted were the most adorable things she’d ever seen. Letting Lucy apply makeup while holding one of the fuzzy bundles in her lap gave Holly a calm, tranquil feeling she wasn’t used to but really enjoyed.

When Holly got home from Lucy’s, Ravadhi was in the shower, getting ready. Her heart leapt into her throat and she disappeared into her bedroom, feeling more nervous than she ever had in her life. She slipped on her dress and fastened the button at the back, pulling on her stockings and shoes. She’d never been this dressed up ever.

When she was finished dressing and getting ready, she sat on the edge of her bed with her heart in her throat. She jumped when she heard Ravadhi’s soft knock on the door.

“Holly? Are you ready?”

“Yeah,” She called, standing and, after a deep breath, opening the door.

Ravadhi was standing at the table, looking down at the book Holly had been reading and had left open. The first thing she noticed was that he had re-dyed his shoulder-length, curly hair, but not back to the royal blue it had been before, but to what she assumed was as close to his original mahogany brown as he could get. He was also wearing an honest-to-god suit, a black three button single breasted that was slightly too big for him, but likely the only one he owned. He had no tie or pocket-square either, but he had polished his tusks to a blinding shine and wore silver bands on them, which she had never seen before. It’s entirely possible this was as dressed-up as he was capable of being, and Holly was perfectly okay with it. In fact, she thought he looked extremely handsome.

He smiled when he heard the door open.

“Hey, are you-- _whoa…_ ” He said, stumbling to a stop when he saw Holly, his mouth open in shock. “Wow, Holly, you look _amazing_.”

She touched her hair and her dress self-consciously. “Really?”

“Yeah,” he said with a breathy laugh. “I… love that dress. That’s my favorite color.”

“I’m glad you said that, because I got you something,” She said.

“Hey, no fair, I’m supposed to get you stuff for the first date,” He said in mock objection.

She laughed and disappeared into her room to retrieve his gift. When she returned, he was holding what appeared to be a small, ornate plant pot with only dirt and no plant.

“What’s that?” She asked, curious.

“It’s a pot with a wisteria bonsai tree seed in it,” Ravadhi said. “You said once that you thought buying flowers was impractical, since they cost too much money and die in a few days, so I thought you might like one that you could grow yourself. I thought it would fit your new beginning pretty well.”

He presented it to her rather awkwardly, and she took it, smiling and blushing.

“I can’t believe you remembered I said that,” Holly said, taking the pot to the kitchen and dripping some water into it.

“Yeah, it’s almost like I pay attention,” He said with a grin. She laughed and opened the sliding door to put the pot in a prime spot on the back porch to catch sunlight.

When she returned, she handed him a plan white box, which he opened. Holly had bought him a tie that matched her dress, royal blue satin with a shiny paisley pattern that could only be seen when catching the light a certain way.

“Oh,” He said, his smile fading as he pulled it out. “A tie.”

She deflated a little. “You don’t like it,” She said nervously, wringing her hands.

“Oh, no, no, it’s not that. I actually love it,” He said earnestly. “I just… I don’t know how to tie a tie. That’s one of those father-son lessons my dad and I hadn’t gotten to yet.”

Holly bounced back. “I know how to do it! I’ll tie it for you,” She said brightly. “Bend down.”

Ravadhi bent his head obediently, keeping his eyes firmly on the ground since he was perilously close to more intimate parts of her body and he staunchly refused to leer at her like a pervert.

He felt her pull up his collar and slide the tie on, watching her hands moving under his chin as she tied it, graceful and delicate, though he could see tiny scars on her knuckles and he couldn’t imagine what might have caused them. The thought made him frown, but he gave himself a little shake. Tonight was about starting over, not dwelling on the past. She needed this.

“Okay, stand up straight for me,” She said, and he obeyed, letting her tighten the knot and pull his collar down again. All he could do was stare at her face as she concentrated on getting the knot perfect, smoothing the tie down, and buttoning his jacket. He was struck dumb by how lovely she looked. He wanted to remember this one minute of her being that close and looking that lovely for the rest of his life.

She stepped back to admire her handiwork, smiling that shy smile she wore when she felt pleased but anxious. He loved that smile.

"You look really nice, too," She said, unable to meet his eye.

“Thanks," He replied, running a hand though his hair. "Ready?”

She nodded, scrunching up her shoulders shyly. “Yes.”

He helped her up into the truck, careful not to wrinkle her new dress, and hopped up himself, pulling away and heading toward town.

“So what’s on the agenda tonight?” She asked him.

“It’s a surprise,” He said with a grin.

“Well, it’d better be a hell of a surprise, because we’re leaving town and I’m already nervous,” She said as the town’s _Now Leaving_ sign passed them.

“We have to go into the city. Willowridge doesn’t have a decent theater,” Ravadhi replied.

“We’re going to the theater?” Holly asked excitedly. “What are we going to see?”

“Ugh…” Ravadhi sighed. “You’re about to discover my deepest, darkest secret.”

“Which is?” Holly asked, intrigued.

He sighed, but smiled as he did so. “I love opera.”

“We’re going to the opera?!” Holly asked, ecstatically bouncing in her seat. “I’ve always wanted to go!”

“Sarah told me,” He said, grinning. “We’re going to see _Die Zauberflöte_. Mozart’s over-usage of recitative can be a little taxing, but his arias are unparalleled.”

“I can’t believe you like the opera,” Holly said.

“Why, because I’m half-orc?”

“No, because you’re a mechanic,” She laughed.

“Hey, we have class under all that grease,” He snapped playfully. “My grandmother used to take me to the opera all the time when I was a kid. People seem to think orcs only like heavy metal and violent punk music, and don’t get me wrong, I do love those, but we’re not as one-note as people believe. Half of all operas are battle-epics, I mean, come on. How’s that not going to appeal to us?”

Holly giggled. “But isn’t _The Magic Flute_ a love story?”

“A love story in the middle of a war,” He admitted. “It’s got everything, really.”

“Am I dressed for the opera?” Holly said, smoothing the skirt of her dress down self-consciously.

“You look beautiful,” Ravadhi said, and she blushed. “Besides, I’m the one pulling up to the opera in a dirty, beat up pick-up truck. Just enjoy yourself and don’t worry about anything else. Tonight is for you.”

Holly clapped her hands together and held them against her lips in excitement.

The opera was everything Holly hoped it would be. The costumes were beautiful, the singers were on point, the atmosphere was appreciative. The look of wonder and joy on Holly’s face lifted Ravadhi’s heart. He watched her more than the people on the stage.

After, as they were walking back to the truck, he asked, “Did you enjoy it?”

“It was amazing!” Holly gushed. “I’ve only seen bits an pieces of it on YouTube, but the whole thing is incredible! Oh, thank you so much!”

“It’s not over yet. We still have dinner to go to,” Ravadhi said with a large grin while looking at his watch. “Although, we’ve got almost an hour before our reservation. What would you like to do to kill time?” His focus was drawn to something past Holly. “Oh, that might do the trick.”

Holly spun and saw a small park with a playground across the street, abandoned at this hour, complete with a swing-set, merry-go-round, and jungle gym.

“Goodness,” Holly said. “I haven’t been to a playground since Sarah was little. Mom never took me when I was a kid because Dad didn’t want us going.”

“Well, you’re dad’s not here.” He held out his hand, which she took, and he led her to the other side of the street.

“Swings were always my favorite,” She said as she sat down on one, slowly pushing off with her legs. He stood to the side and used his broad hand to catch her back and push her forward, increasing the height of her swing.

“I’m way too big for these now,” He said, keeping up a steady rhythm. “I was too big for these by the time I turned ten, honestly.”

Holly laughed and closed her eyes. She felt the wind blow backwards and forwards through her hair and ruffling the skirt of her dress, the warmth of Ravadhi’s hand on her back every time he propelled her gently. It felt like flying.

After a while, she planted her feet and skidded to a stop, sighing wistfully.

“I did miss out on so much,” She said. “Things you only really get to appreciate when you’re a kid.”

“Who says?” Ravadhi said. “I still like video games and cartoons and playing in the dirt, and I’ll be thirty next July. There’s no reason you can’t enjoy kid stuff as an adult.”

“But it’s different,” Holly said, standing up and brushing her hair back. “You don’t get to see it through the eyes of a kid. Some of the mystery is lost to me because I’m older now.”

“Still doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy yourself,” Ravadhi said, walking toward the merry-go-round. “Hop on, I’ll spin it.”

She took his hand and stepped up, taking hold of the bar, and he took a step back before launching the spinning wheel around, jumping on after her. As she was beginning to feel dizzy and stumble, he placed a steadying hand on her back and held her up. She looked up at his face and he looked down at her with the sweetest smile she’d ever seen. He was the only stable focal point in a spinning world, and she felt more than just a flutter in her chest. She felt breathless.

He studied her face closely, lingering on her mouth, and took a very long breath and released it. “I… would very much like to kiss you, if that’s okay.”

Her heart hammered in her chest, but she felt an incredible anxiety putting pressure on her lungs.

“I… I’m not… sure…” She stuttered.

“If you’re ready?” He asked kindly, and she nodded gratefully. He laughed and squeezed her shoulder a little. “That’s okay. It might take time, and that’s okay. God knows, it took me forever to be comfortable letting other people touch me. Dating was nearly impossible for me for a good long while.”

“You’re not mad?”

“Of course not,” He said. “You’re allowed to say no in any situation, including this one. You don’t owe me anything.”

She threw her arms around his waist and squeezed him hard. “Thank you.”

His arms settled around her shoulders and his nose planted itself in her hair. “For what?”

“Understanding.”

“That’s the funny thing, honey,” He said. “Understanding isn’t all that hard. People just don’t try.”

The merry-go-round slowed to a stop, and Ravadhi stepped down and helped her off.

“My hair must be a mess,” She said, trying to flatten it.

“A little,” He said with a bright smile, catching a wayward strand and curling around her ear. “But I like it.”

She blushed hard and covered her face for a moment.

“Our reservation is soon,” He said. “You hungry?”

“Starved,” She said. “I didn’t eat all day because I was so nervous.”

“Are you still nervous?” He asked.

“Yes,” she admitted. “But in a good way.”

His smirk didn’t waver. “Me too.”

Her face hurt from smiling so much. She slipped her hand into his as they walked to the truck, and his soft smile became a happy grin that wouldn’t quit.

Dinner was at a place that was much nicer than a steakhouse but not quite a five star, coat and tails kind of a place that didn’t print prices on the menu. Still, it wasn’t a place she’d have been able to afford.

The food was amazing. She had ordered a risotto and seabass, which she had never had before, and Ravadhi ordered the largest porterhouse she’d ever seen. They brought out a wine list which Ravadhi promptly sent away, instead asking for tea. Holly had never even tried wine, but she wanted to respect Ravadhi’s sobriety.

After dinner, as they were heading back to Willowridge, Ravadhi asked: “Did you have a good time?”

“The best,” She replied. “This was incredible.”

“You know what would make it perfect?” He asked. “Rod’s cheesecake.”

Holly gasped. “ _Yes._ Can we?”

“Of course we can,” Ravadhi said. “I called earlier. It’s waiting for us to pick it up.”

“You are _so awesome_ ,” Holly said, and they laughed together.

Ravadhi ducked into the diner to pick up the cheesecake, and they headed back to the house. He held her hand as she jumped down from the truck, and he walked her inside. He took off his jacket and loosened his tie as Holly got two forks out of the drawer, and they sat at the table and ate the cheesecake out of the box like heathens, talking and giggling as if they were old friends.

Finally, after half the cake was gone, Ravadhi put his fork down and sighed.

“Well,” he said reluctantly. “Tomorrow’s Monday, and I’ve got to be up early, so I really should go to bed.”

“Yeah,” She said just as hesitantly. “And now that I’m better, I should go to Tumble’s and see about that job, so I probably should get to sleep, too.”

He nodded and released a breath. They stood together, feeling a little awkward.

“Goodnight, Holly,” Ravadhi said, taking up his jacket and moving toward his room.

“Wait,” Holly said, grabbing his arm and halting him. He turned back questioningly. “Bend down,” She said.

He did so, his brows furrowed in curiosity. He placed her hand on his left cheek and pressed a kiss to his right, then hooked her arms around his neck, holding him there for a moment.

“I’m sorry it can’t be more than this yet,” She said against his shoulder.

“Don’t be,” He said, wrapping his arms around her waist. “It’s a good first step. That’s what tonight is about, right? Moving forward? Baby steps are still movement.”

She snickered. “You sound like a therapist.”

“I’ve seen a few,” He admitted as they pulled apart, though she let her hands linger on his chest, and he covered them with his own. “I guess I know their whole spiel by rote now.”

She smiled. “Yeah, it’s just…”

“What?”

“Well, you know how in movies and shows, when someone goes on a really good date, the first thing they do is call their best friend and talk about it?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I want to do that, but I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re my best friend.”

He grinned fit to crack his face. “Call Sarah tomorrow. I’m sure she’s dying to hear all about it.” He bent to press a tentative kiss to her cheek in return. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Holly replied, pulling away and stepping into her room.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ravadhi and Holly feel out their new relationships, making a few missteps along the way. Holly learns of her mother's fate and her father's reaction to being charged with her murder.

Holly started working at Tumble’s that week, taking the morning shift from seven to three. Her scooter had been found by the police at a pawn shop two days after she started work. They confiscated it and returned it to Holly, so at least she had her own means of transportation back. She made sure to buy a better lock for it.

The shift she took had her leaving the house before Ravadhi woke up but let her get home more than an hour before Ravadhi did, so she would still be able to make dinner every night. Ravadhi was a the garage during the day, and either in school or on call for the plumbing job four nights out of the week, and doing security the other two, so they didn’t have much time together.

They made an effort, though. Ravadhi would come to the cafe for lunch, although Holly packed his lunches for him. Those lunches and dinners together were just about the only time they had with each other.

Sundays, however, were Holly’s day. Holly had Thursdays and Sundays off, so Ravadhi spent the entire day with her. They’d go on dates or often pick up Sarah and the three of them would do something fun, even if it was just helping Ravadhi fix up the house.

Every once in a while, however, now that Holly wasn’t taking any pain meds that knocked her out for hours at a time, the nightmares and panic attacks came back full force. Sometimes she’d be sitting and reading or in the kitchen cooking and she would just hit the floor, hyperventilating. Ravadhi would often hear screams from her room in the middle of the night and find her curled against the wall or hiding behind something, crying hysterically. He did what he could to soothe her during these times, but he knew this was something that could take years for a person to overcome, if they ever did. It had taken him years, after all, and he still wasn’t altogether healed, so to speak. All he could do was be there when she needed him.

Once, he had found her on her knees in the bathroom with her forehead against the floor, her fingers clutching her hair, repeating “ _This isn’t real!_ ” over and over. He thought she was dreaming about being back home with her father, but she explained to him, sobbing hysterically, that Ravadhi and her new home was the dream and she was scared to death that she was going to wake up.

Ravadhi himself still had nightmares, less often than he used to but no less intense. He had learned over the years to keep himself from shouting or thrashing in his bed, but would still wake up in cold sweats, shaking like a leaf. He was used to waking up alone, but since Holly had moved in, he would sometimes find her sitting on the floor next to the bed, waiting quietly for him to wake himself up.

When he was fully awake, she would sit on the foot of the bed and talk to him, not asking what his dream was about but open to listening if he wanted to talk about it. She never pushed, and he was grateful. She’d sit with him until he fell back to sleep. On these nights, the vile visions didn’t return.

They fell into a comfortable routine, something Holly needed desperately. She needed familiar, stable, and _safe_ , and she found that with Ravadhi. She wished they had more time together, but she admired his work ethic and understood he was working hard toward a better future that possibly included her, and she felt hopeful.

A few weeks after their first date, Holly was at home making a huge pork roast basted in rice vinegar and steeped herbs when she heard Ravadhi’s truck skid to a stop in the driveway. She heard the engine turn off and Ravadhi get out, slamming the door harder than normal as he did.

Holly was immediately set on edge. She’s seen Ravadhi upset and annoyed, but never properly angry, except for that one time in the library, but they were in public. She didn’t know what he was like to be alone with him while he was angry.

Ravadhi stomped through the door, though he didn’t slam it.

“Hey,” he said flatly.

“Hey,” she replied. “Bad day?”

He grunted and washed his hands.

“Well, dinner is almost ready,” Holly said, trying to lighten the mood.

“I’m not hungry,” Ravadhi sighed, rubbing his brow.

“Want to talk about it?” she ventured carefully.

“Not really.”

“Okay,” She said meekly, and left him alone. He went to his room and closed the door.

Holly breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t know what to do in tense situations like these. Ravadhi had never given her a reason to be afraid of him, but despite being half-orc, he was still much bigger than her. If he wanted to hurt her, he could do it easily.

Ravadhi re-emerged from his room wearing regular clothes and sat on the couch, staring at his hands. He noticed Holly seemed to have shrunk in on herself but wasn’t sure why. She was busying herself with dinner and not looking at him.

“How was work?” He asked in a tired voice, trying and failing to put her at ease.

“It was okay,” Holly said softly, hardly audible, as she floundered, not knowing whether to continue setting the table or put the steaming-hot food into containers.

“Sorry,” Ravadhi huffed. “I don’t mean to be grumpy. I’m just… feeling off.”

“Maybe you’ll feel better after you’ve had something to eat. I’ll set out--”

“I said I’m not hungry!” He said, more loudly than he intended. He heard a scraping and glass shattering and saw that Holly had backed into the table with enough force to push it back two feet. A drinking glass had slipped from the table and broken.

Ravadhi was confused, but he saw that she wasn’t wearing shoes and pieces of the glass were perilously close to her feet.

He stood and raised his arm to stop her from moving. “Don’t--”

He stopped short when she whimpered and bend at the waist, her forearms drawn up to protect her head. Ravadhi realized then that she was defending herself. From him. She expected him to hit her because he was angry.

Every ounce of anger drained out of him, replaced with shame. He held out his hand, but didn’t advance.

“Holly.”

She looked up from the shelter of her arms, breathing hard, on the verge of tears. “I’m sorry I broke the glass. I didn’t mean to, I’ll clean it up.”

Ravadhi shook his head. “No, let me. It’s my fault. Wait here a second, okay? Don’t move, I don’t want you to cut your feet.”

Ravadhi went into his room and came back with a pair of flip-flops, much too big for her, but they would work for now.

“Here,” He said, kneeling down to put them on her feet and gently nudging her into a chair. “I’ll get the broom.”

“Okay,” Holly said, her shoulders hunched and her arms crossed over her chest. She was shivering slightly.

She sat in a chair and watched nervously as Ravadhi swept up the shards of the broken glass and deposit them in an old plastic container. When he’d put them safely in the garbage, he began laying out dishes on the table and spooning out the vegetables.

“You don’t have to eat it if you’re not hungry,” Holly said in a small voice.

“Are you kidding?” Ravadhi said. “This looks like it took hours, it’d be a crime not to eat it.” He took a new glass from the cabinet and set it on the table as she joined him, still wearing the flip-flops. “What’re you drinking?”

“Tea,” She said. “But you don’t have to--”

“I got it, honey,” He said gently, pouring her drink and setting it in front of her. Drinks poured and food ready, he sat down next to her and started eating.

“This is really good, Holly,” He said around a mouthful of roast. “Everything you make is amazing.”

“Thank you,” she replied. She was picking at her plate and not looking up. This was tense and miserable and Ravadhi hated it. And he hated it more because it was his fault. He swallowed down his food and his pride and sighed.

“I'm sorry. It doesn't excuse me yelling at you, but I got fired,” Ravadhi said. “From the garage.”

Holly looked up, shocked out of her fear. “What? Why?”

Ravadhi growled in annoyance. “Remember that asshole who came through last week that I told you about? The one with the Lamborghini who wanted us to change his tires and then got mad when we didn’t have custom tires on hand and had to order them?”

“Yeah?”

“He came back today and accused me of stealing a watch out of his glove compartment. Which is bullshit, because I was under the car the whole time he was there and never went near the cab. But he threatened to sue Ricky, and he can’t gamble his entire company on an ex-con.” Ravadhi’s brows knitted together. “He didn’t have a choice.”

“He should have fought for you,” Holly said.

Ravadhi shook his head. “I’m not worth risking his entire livelihood on. Besides, I’m still his on-call plumber. I just can’t work at the shop anymore.” He huffed and sat back in his seat. “To be honest, I was let go around lunchtime, but I was so angry, that I just drove around town, trying to cool off. Didn’t work; I just got more and more pissed off. And I brought it home with me.” He looked up at Holly. “I shouldn’t have raised my voice and scared you. I’m sorry.”

Holly stared at him. “Thank you. For apologizing.”

He held out his hand and Holly took it, squeezing his fingers.

“Maybe…” She said cautiously. “Maybe this is a good thing.”

He tilted his head. “How do you mean?”

“Well, you’re exhausted all the time,” she replied. “Between school and all your jobs, you never have time for yourself and I know you’re not getting the sleep you need. You’re going to burn out. Now that you only have the two jobs, maybe you can switch to day classes and you can have evenings to yourself. You can actually get more sleep and have time to work on the house like you want.”

“I’ll have more time with you, too,” Ravadhi said, looking at her with a smile.

Holly blushed. “That, too.”

Ravadhi laughed and scrubbed his brow. “To think, I spent all that time driving around being mad, when I should have just come home and talked to you. I feel so much better.” His smile widened, and her blush deepened. “I’ll go tomorrow and transfer my classes to daytime. I may try to pick up another night shift at the factory, though, to off-set the profit loss.”

“That’s a good idea. As long as you get your sleep.”

He grinned at her. “I like having you around to take care of me.”

She grinned back. “Just paying you back.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I don’t care, I’m gonna.”

He laughed and picked his fork back up. Before he started eating, his face became grim and he took her hand again.

“Listen,” He said. “I want you to know, no matter what happens, no matter how mad we get at each other, no matter how pissed off I get, I will never, _never_ , hit you, hurt you, or raise a hand to you. Never. I swear.”

She scooted her chair over to him and hugged him sideways, laying her head on his chest. “I believe you. It’s just… a learned response. It’ll probably happen again. I… can’t help its.”

He rubbed her arm. “I know. It’s okay.” He kissed the top of her head. “This is still new for you, and I don’t have all that much experience with relationships, either. I’ve only been in two before this one, and they weren’t all that healthy. We just have to talk to each other.”

“I’ll try,” Holly said uncertainly. “I’m used to keeping things to myself. Speaking up used to get me hurt.”

“I know. It’s going to take time. We’ll learn.”

She turned her head and breathed in the scent of his shirt. It was comforting and it helped ease the tension in her shoulders.

“I may not smell too good right now,” he said. “Work and being pissed off and everything probably made me really sweaty.”

“You smell amazing,” she said, muffled against his chest.

Now it was his turn to blush. He tucked her in tighter to his side, not caring that his dinner was getting cold. He pressed many soft, gentle kisses on the top of her head, careful not to tangle his tusks in her hair.

She looked up at him, her eyes had a sweet softness to them. “How long have we been dating now, Vadhi?”

“Thirty six days,” He said.

“And how many dates have we been on?”

“Not as many as I’d have liked, but about twelve.”

“Do… do you have to be on a date to kiss?”

He smiled gently. “No, I don’t think that’s a rule,” replied.

“Okay,” she said quietly, her eyes fixed on his lips and biting her own.

Slowly, so she could pull away if she wished, he lowered his head. He first kissed her forehead, then her cheek, and inching toward her lips, placed a very light, chaste kiss to them. She didn’t recoil; in fact, she leaned into it and sighed.

He didn’t linger long. When they parted, she grinned shyly and hid her face in his shirt.

“Was that okay?”

“Yeah,” she replied, giggling a little. “It was nice.”

“You can do that, too, you know,” He said, chuckling. “You don’t have to wait for me to do it. If you want to kiss me, you can.”

She looked up, her eyes a little mischievous, and she stood up. At this vantage, she was a little taller and had to look down at him where he sat, but not by much. She bit her lip again, hesitating, before lowering her head and pressing her lips against his. She kissed him once, twice, before pulling her head back and smiling.

“Was that okay?” She asked.

“More than okay,” he said.

She covered her face a little self-consciously, although she was still smiling, and took her seat, picking up her fork. They both struggled to keep the grins off their faces for the rest of dinner.

Ravadhi recognized right off the bat that this had been a big step for Holly, and especially after he’d scared her like that earlier. He felt incredibly lucky that she trusted him enough to want to kiss him.

That evening, she gave him a goodnight kiss on the cheek rather than the lips. Ravadhi didn’t mind; this was a process. She’d made a huge leap that night, and he was proud of her.

The next day, which was Holly’s day off, they decided to spend the day together, since Ravadhi didn’t have classes that night, either. They went out and got Holly a cell phone so that she could talk to him whenever she liked without having to call. They then went to the college so that Ravadhi could transfer his classes.

It was the first time she had been back to the college in months, since the night of the assault, and she could feel people staring at her as she passed. She did her best to ignore them, using Ravadhi as a shield. They didn’t stay long.

That night, while eating dinner, they received a visit from Agent Freemont.

“I come with news,” Freemont said.

“Good or bad?” Ravadhi asked, motioning for Freemont to sit, which he declined with a wave of his paw.

“Well… certainly not good,” He said, scratching his neck. “The DNA from the remains found on the property was compared with yours and there was a 48% match. Dental records, though they were extremely hard to track down, were also a match. I’m afraid she’s been positively identified as Natalie Stevenson, and it was most definitely homicide.”

Holly sighed resignedly and stared at her dinner plate. “I figured as much. Thank you for coming to tell me.” She looked up at Freemont. “Is there enough evidence to charge my dad of her murder?”

Freemont took another breath. “Well, I did say I didn’t have any good news for you. We waited to confront Mr. Stevenson with the fact we had discovered the remains until after we were certain of the identity of the victim. When interrogated, he maintained he had no idea how she died or who killed her. However…” He paused before continuing. “That evening, Mr. Stevenson was found dead in his cell. He had used his shaving razor to take his own life.”

Holly froze in her seat, startled into silence. After a full ten seconds of shocked stillness, Agent Freemont cleared his throat and asked, “Are you alright, Ms. Stevenson?”

“Y-yes…” She said, staring blankly at nothing. “Or… I don’t know. I feel like I should feel something about this, but… I don’t feel anything. I’m not happy or sad or angry. The fact that he’s dead doesn’t make a difference to me. He’s been dead to me for years. He was just… a ghost to me. A demon that had been haunting and tormenting me in all that time. In a way, it’s like… he’s been exorcised. I’m not happy he’s dead, but… I won’t miss him.”

Freemont nodded grimly. “I understand. We have yet to inform your stepmother and sister. I wanted to bring the news to you first.”

“Oh god, Sarah,” Holly said, covering her mouth. “Listen, you can call Diane tomorrow with it, but let me tell Sarah myself.”

Freemont nodded.

Holly laid a hand on Ravadhi’s. “Would you…”

“I’ll go now,” He said, taking a last bite from his plate before standing to find his coat and shoes.

Freemont placed his hand on Holly’s shoulders. “It’s over now,” He said. “It may not have been ideal, but… it’s over.”

Holly smiled sadly. “Yes. It is.”

Freemont left as Ravadhi did, and Holly spent her nervous energy waiting for them to come home by packing up the leftovers and washing the dishes.

Before long, she heard the lock slide open and the door swing inward.

“Hi, Holly!” Sarah said. “It’s late for me to be over on a school night, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Holly sighed hesitantly. “Listen, I need to tell you something, and then we can have some ice cream. Let’s go to my room, okay?”

“Okay,” Sarah said uncertainly.

Ravadhi, sitting at the table with homework, grimaced in sympathy as the two girls passed him into the room and closed the door behind them.

Holly took Sarah’s hand and sat her down on the bed, sitting herself next to her. “Sarah, you remember the body in the backyard?”

“Yeah?”

Holly took a breath. “It was my mom. Dad killed her.”

“Jesus,” Sarah said in horror. “I can’t believe he would do something like that.”

 _I can._ Holly shook her head. “That’s not all. I… There’s no good way to tell you this, but… Dad died. He killed himself to get out of being charged with murder.”

Sarah’s face was blank for a moment, and then hardened.

“Good. I’m glad he’s dead.”

Holly tsked. “You don’t mean that.”

“Yes, I do,” She said. Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes and she gulped. “He was a piece of shit. I hated him. I’m glad he’s dead. I hope it hurt. I hope it took forever for him to die.”

“Sarah,” Holly said in a small voice. “It’s okay to be upset.”

“I’m not upset!” Sarah shouted, a tear falling down her cheek. “I’m happy! I hate him!”

Sarah shot off the bed, but Holly grabbed her wrist.

“He was your father. It’s natural to be a little sad and hurt that he’s gone. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“I’m not sad! I hate him! I hate him! Fuck him!”

Holly held Sarah fast by her arms, though Sarah was beating against her, trying to free herself.

“I hate him!” She sobbed. “I hate him.” She stopped struggling and wept freely and loudly.

Holly pulled her weakly thrashing body into her arms and held her tight.

“I know,” She said softly. “But you loved him, too. He was your dad. That’s just how it works.”

“I don’t want to love him,” She wailed, shaking. “He was a fucking monster. He doesn’t deserve it.”

“No, he doesn’t,” Holly said simply. “But it shows how much better a person you are that you love him anyway. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Yes, there is,” She moaned. She had stopped struggling and was curled up in Holly’s lap, who was rocking her gently. “I hate him.”

“That’s okay. It’s okay to love him and to hate him, regardless of what he deserved, and it’s okay to be confused. I’m confused, too. We both may be for a long time. That’s okay. But we can’t ignore it or it’ll make us sick, one way or another.”

Sarah sniffled against Holly’s shirt and was quiet.

“Why don’t you stay over for the weekend?” Holly said. “I’ll call your school in the morning and let them know what’s going on. You know Ravadhi won’t mind.”

Sarah nodded, but didn’t say anything.

Ravadhi took Sarah back home to pack a bag for an extended weekend and returned soon after. Holly gave her some ice cream and Ravadhi played 2v2 on Rocket League with her for a few hours to take her mind off things. When she went to bed with Holly that evening, she cried silently and let Holly stroke her hair until she fell asleep.

Early the next morning, she was awoken by Ravadhi knocking gently on the door. He peeked his head inside at her call.

“Sorry to wake you,” He whispered, as Sarah was still sleeping. “There’s someone here to see you. She says she’s a lawyer.”

Frowning, Holly pulled on her robe and pulled a brush through her hair cursorily before stepping out into the kitchen.

Sitting at the table, drinking a cup of coffee, was a chubby, fluffy moth person, black and gold and tan. Her suit was black with gold pinstripes, and she had an absurdly adorable tie with a gold butterfly pattern.

“Ms. Stevenson?” She asked as Holly entered the room, standing and extending one of her four small hands.

“Yes,” Holly said cautiously.

“Good morning, my name is Jesitha Tonri. I’m a probate attorney and the executor of your mother’s estate. My office has been wanting to get into contact with you for some time now, but before, your father intercepted all of our messages and since his arrest, we didn’t know how to contact you. Once your mother’s death had been confirmed, we went to the police to track you down.”

“Estate?” Holly said, confused.

“Yes,” Tonri replied. “Your mother began setting aside money and valuables without your father’s knowledge while she was pregnant with you, just after she was married. I think she intended to escape at some point, and was hoping to accumulate enough funding to do so safely. Unfortunately, she didn’t quite make it, it seems.”

“Yeah,” Holly agreed.

“So, let’s get to business.” Tonri opened her briefcase and removed a manila envelope, which she slit open with one of her tiny clawed fingers.

“Ahem,” Tonri tutted. “ _’I, Natalie Stevenson, nee Temple, of sound mind and body, bequeath my entire estate to my unborn daughter, to be named Holly, including the contents in safety deposit boxes F152, F153, F154, and F155, and the property located at 632 Northshore Avenue--'_ ”

“Wait, that’s my house,” Holly said. “My mom owned that house?”

“Yes,” Tonri said pleasantly. “And now you own it.” She reached into the briefcase and pulled out a paper. “This is the deed to the land and the house.”

“So, for three years, my dad made me pay rent on a house I already owned?” Holly asked, deadpanned.

“I’m afraid so,” Tonri said apologetically, the fluff on her neck ruffling a bit.

Holly snorted. “Figures.”

Tonri reached back into the briefcase and pulled out a key ring with four small keys and a few more papers.

“These are the keys to the safety deposit boxes in your mother’s name that we have been maintaining for the last fifteen years. We are relinquishing responsibility of them to you, so you’ll be paying the fees from now on. This is also her death certificated and a copy of her will, which you will need to access the safety deposit boxes. Just show them at the bank along with the keys.”

“Thank you,” Holly said.

“If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call my office,” Tonri said, sliding a card across the table. “I know you’ve had a tough time of it, Ms. Stevenson. I hope things get better for you.”

Holly smiled. “They already have.”

Tonri smiled in return. “Wonderful. Well, I must be going.”

Holly saw Tonri to her car and went back inside. She sat down at the table, staring at the keys and the papers.

“You okay?” Ravadhi asked apprehensively.

“Yeah, I think so,” Holly replied distantly. “Today is Friday. The bank will be closed tomorrow. I… I want to go and see what my mother left for me. I’ll wait until after Sarah gets up, so I can explain everything, but…” She looked up at him with a pleading expression. “I’d… I’d like to do this alone.”

Ravadhi nodded and laid a hand on her cheek. “I understand.”

After breakfast, during which Holly told Sarah what was happening, she gave both Sarah and Ravadhi a kiss on the cheek, took the keys and the envelope with the necessary papers, placed them in the storage compartment of her scooter, and after taking a deep breath, headed to the bank, uncertain of what she'd find.


End file.
